With only 48 hours left for the T20 World Cup to kick off, the excitement is reaching a fever pitch. A hilarious yet fascinating theme doing the rounds in cricket circles is the “Aadhaar Card vs Green Card” battle. This refers to the clash between India and the United States, where the US squad features as many as nine Indian-origin cricketers who will be playing against their land of heritage.

The statistics are staggering: a total of 40 Indian-origin cricketers are set to participate in this World Cup across various national teams. Beyond India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav, three other Indian-origin players are leading their respective nations: Monank Patel (USA), Dilpreet Bajwa (Canada), and Jatinder Singh (Oman).

Canada tops the list with 11 Indian-origin players in their squad, led by Punjab-born all-rounder Dilpreet Bajwa. The US squad features Monank Patel—a former U-19 teammate of Axar Patel—and the famous software engineer-cum-cricketer Saurabh Netravalkar. The UAE and Oman squads also boast seven Indian-origin players each. Even powerhouse teams like New Zealand (Rachin Ravindra and Ish Sodhi), South Africa (Keshav Maharaj), and the West Indies (Gudakesh Motie) rely heavily on Indian-origin stars. With representation even in the Netherlands and Italy squads, this World Cup is set to be a grand showcase of the global footprint of Indian cricketing talent.