Saad Bin Zafar (; born 10 November 1986) is a

Pakistani-Canadian Pakistani Canadian refers to the community in Canada of Pakistani heritage or descent. It can also refer to people who hold dual Pakistani and Canadian citizenship. Categorically, Pakistani Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who represents Canada in international cricket and is the current

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Canadian national cricket team. Saad is a left-handed

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

. Saad holds the world record for completing his maximum quota of overs (4 overs in a 20-over match) without conceding a run in a men's T20I match and has the 7th most maiden overs bowled in T20I career. Saad also currently holds the record for the 3rd highest strike rate of 414.28 in a

T20I Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

innings.

Early career

At the age of 10, he started playing

tape ball A tape ball is a tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape that is often used in informal games of cricket such as street cricket, also called tape ball cricket. First pioneered in Karachi, Pakistan, the tape ball acts as an improvised cricket bal ...

cricket with friends on the streets. Later at the age of 14, his school's sports teacher spotted Saad and introduced him to Leather ball cricket by selecting him for the junior school cricket team. In 2004, he started playing

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obse ...

for Overseas Cricket club in Premier Division. While enrolled at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

he got the opportunity to lead

CIMA Cima may refer to: Acronyms *The Center for International Media Assistance, a media development organization in Washington, DC * Center for Italian Modern Art * Centre International de la Mécanique d'Art (International centre for Art Mechanics), ...

Toronto Mayor's Team XI which toured to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

under the program of ''Cricket Across the Pond'' in 2010. He had an impressive all-round performance by scoring 275 runs and bagged 11 wickets. He also had a successful stint as a skipper of Mayor's Team XI by winning 7 out of their 9 matches on the tour. He scored 262 not out in a 50 over game in Scarborough Cricket League Premier Division in August 2015.

Domestic and T20 franchise career

In January 2017, he played for the

ICC Americas The ICC Americas is the International Cricket Council region responsible for administration of the sport of cricket in the Americas. It is a subordinate body to the International Cricket Council (ICC). The organisation currently has 17 members, ...

in the

2016–17 Regional Super50 The 2016–17 Regional Super50 was the 43rd edition of the Regional Super50, the domestic limited-overs cricket competition for the countries of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The tournament was held in Antigua and Barbuda. Ten teams pa ...

and was the leading wicket-taker for his team. In his 9 wickets that season, he was able to dismiss the likes of

Shai Hope Shai Diego Hope (born 10 November 1993) is a Barbadian cricketer, who plays as a wicketkeeper-batsman for the West Indies cricket team. He is also the current ODI &T20I captain of the Windies. In June 2018, he was named the Men's Cricketer of t ...

Jermaine Blackwood Jermaine Blackwood (born 20 November 1991) is a Jamaican cricketer. He made his Test cricket debut for the West Indies against New Zealand in June 2014. He made his One Day International debut for the West Indies against Sri Lanka on 4 November ...

, and Chadwick Walton. On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Vancouver Knights in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the

Global T20 Canada The Global T20 Canada is a professional Twenty20 cricket tournament that is played in Canada. The first edition of the tournament took place during June and July 2018 with six teams competing. Each team featured four local Canadian cricketers ...

tournament. Saad was the second Canadian player to be selected in the draft after Nikhil Dutta in round 9. In his third match against Montreal Tigers his bowling figure was 3/21 in 4 overs. He was able to take the wickets of

Sikandar Raza Sikandar Raza Butt (; born 24 April 1986) is a Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international cricketer. He is an all-rounder, who bats right-handed and bowls right arm off-spin. He made his international debut for Zimbabwe in May 2013 and is the fir ...

George Worker George Herrick Worker (born 23 August 1989) is a New Zealand former international cricketer. He was named in New Zealand's squad for their tour to Zimbabwe in August 2015, after Mitchell Santner was ruled out due to injury. He made his Twenty ...

and

Najibullah Zadran Najibullah Zadran (; born 28 February 1993) is an Afghan cricketer and the vice captain of the Afghanistan Twenty20 International (T20I) side. Zadran is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off breaks. He made his international debut in Jul ...

on duck. In his fifth match against Toronto Nationals he took 2/22 in 3.5 overs and scored unbeaten 12 in 47-run winning partnership with Chadwick Walton. In the final match of

2018 Global T20 Canada The 2018 Global T20 Canada (also known as Canada Dry Global T20 Canada for sponsorship reasons) of the Global T20 Canada, was a professional Twenty20 cricket tournament that was played in Canada. It was the first edition of the tournament and ra ...

against

West Indies B cricket team The West Indies 'B' cricket team is a List A cricket team that participates in the West Indian domestic List A tournament and was formerly also a first-class cricket team that participated in the West Indian domestic First Class competition f ...

, he took wickets of

Fabian Allen Fabian Allen (born 7 May 1995) is a Jamaican cricketer. He made his first-class debut for Jamaica in the 2016–17 Regional Four Day Competition on 25 November 2016. Prior to his first-class debut, he was part of the West Indies squad for the ...

and Brandon King by giving away 26 runs in 4 overs, also having a wicket maiden over. Vancouver Knights didn't have an ideal start to the chase as Chadwick Walton,

Chris Gayle Christopher Henry Gayle (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricket team, Jamaican cricketer who has played international cricket for the West Indies cricket team, West Indies from 1999 to 2021. Nicknamed "The Universe Boss", Gayle is wide ...

and Ben Dunk fell cheaply to leave them at 22 for 3 but Saad and

Rassie van der Dussen Hendrik Erasmus "Rassie" van der Dussen (born 7 February 1989) is a South African professional cricketer who represents the South Africa national cricket team and plays for Gauteng in domestic cricket. In the 2018 ''South African Cricket Annua ...

came up with a crucial unbeaten 126-run partnership to get Knights back on track in the chase. Saad played the role of an aggressor, dealing in regular boundaries to bring up a 32-ball fifty. He collected eight fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 48-ball stay for 79 runs. Saad was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant all-round performance. In September 2018, he was called up as a replacement player of Bangladesh's allrounder

Mahmudullah Mohammad Mahmudullah (; born 4 February 1986), also known as Riyad, is a former international Bangladeshi cricketer and former captain for the side in T20I and test matches. He plays for Dhaka Division and has represented the national team in a ...

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots are a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket franchise based in Saint Kitts and Nevis that participated in the competition for the first time in 2015 Caribbean Premier League, 2015. The team plays its home games at ...

for CPL playoffs . In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Vancouver Knights franchise team in the

2019 Global T20 Canada The 2019 Global T20 Canada was the second edition of the Global T20 Canada, a professional Twenty20 cricket tournament that was played at the CAA Centre, Brampton in Ontario, Canada. It started on 25 July 2019, and concluded with the final on ...

tournament. He had a successful tournament as he was the leading wicket-taker for the Vancouver Knights. In his 4th match against Edmonton Royals, his bowling figure was 2/34 in 4 overs, including the wicket of

Shadab Khan Shadab Khan (; born 4 October 1998) is a Pakistani international cricketer who plays for the Pakistan national cricket team. He captains Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), and under his leadership they won the PSL 2024 for a ...

on a golden duck. In the Qualifier 1 against Brampton Wolves, Saad was able to pick up 4 wickets by only giving 22 runs in 4 overs. He bowled exceptionally well in the 8th over in which he bagged 3 wickets by only giving 1 run which included the wicket of

Shahid Afridi Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (, ; born 1 March 197is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. An all-rounder, Afridi was a right-handed leg spinner and a right-handed batsman. Afridi made ...

on a golden duck and the captain

Colin Munro Colin Munro (born 11 March 1987) is a South African born former New Zealand international cricketer, who played for New Zealand cricket team. He was a member of the New Zealand Under-19 side and is currently a member of the Auckland cricket t ...

, who scored the fastest 50 of the tournament. His outstanding bowling spell got him the well-deserved man of the match award and led the Vancouver Knights into finals. In the final match against Winnipeg Hawks, he had an 86-run 5th wicket partnership with

Shoaib Malik Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, (; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan nati ...

and 53-run 6th wicket partnership with

Andre Russell Andre Dwayne Russell (born 29 April 1988), nicknamed Dre Russ, is a Jamaican international cricketer who plays international cricket for the West Indies and for Jamaica in domestic cricket as an all-rounder. He currently plays in various T20 l ...

. Due to the high run rate requirement, Vancouver couldn't find success chasing the 192 target set by the Hawks and loss in the super over. In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Amsterdam Knights in the inaugural edition of the

Euro T20 Slam The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 100 ...

cricket tournament. However, the following month the tournament was cancelled. In December 2019, he was selected to play for the Falcon Hunters in the

Qatar T10 League Qatar T-10 Cricket League or QT10 League was a T10 cricket franchise league played in 2019. It was founded in Doha and had six teams during the only edition of the league. The tournament was organised by the Qatar Cricket Association. Teams ...

. Falcon Hunters were named Champions for the inaugural season by beating Swift Gallopers by 4 wickets. Saad had a successful tournament just like his team by being the fifth leading wicket-taker of the season. In his six dismissals, he was able to collect key wickets of

Mohammad Hafeez Mohammad Hafeez ( Punjabi and ; born 17 October 1980) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer. He was a member of the Pakistan team that won the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, and had a major role in the final, where he scored an unbe ...

and

Kamran Akmal Kamran Akmal ( Punjabi, Urdu: ; born 13 January 1982) is a Pakistani cricket administrator, coach and former cricketer, who played for Pakistan as a right-handed batsman & wicketkeeper. He started his international career in November 2002 with ...

. In July 2020, he was named in the

St Lucia Zouks The Saint Lucia Kings (formerly known as St Lucia Stars and St Lucia Zouks) are the representative team of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) of cricket. They were created in 2013 as one of the six teams for the inaugural seas ...

squad for the

2020 Caribbean Premier League The 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPLT20) or for sponsorship reasons, Hero CPL 2020 was the eighth season of the Caribbean Premier League, the domestic Twenty20 cricket league played in the West Indies. All matches were played in Trinidad and ...

. In September 2020, he was added to the

Houston Hurricanes Houston ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat of Harris County, as well as the principal city of ...

squad for the 2021

Minor League Cricket Minor League Cricket (MiLC) is a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket league in the United States that serves as the Minor league, developmental league for Major League Cricket (MLC). The league comprises 26 teams, divided between the Atlanti ...

season. He was later traded to the Michigan Cricket Stars. He was the most economical bowler for Michigan Cricket Stars with 5.7 economy rate and was able to pick up 14 wickets from 12 matches. KPL2022

In July 2022, he was selected to play for the

Muzaffarabad Tigers The Muzaffarabad Tigers (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani professional T20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Kashmir Premier League. It was founded in 2021 in the inaugural edition of Kashmir Premier League. The team is captained by Mohammad ...

following the players' draft for the 2022 Kashmir Premier League. Despite Muzaffarabad Tigers ending up at the bottom of the points table, Saad had a successful stint by being the 3rd most economical bowler of the season with the economy rate of 6.26 from 5 matches. In June 2023, he was the first Canadian player to be drafted for 2023 Global T20 Canada by Toronto Nationals. In his 3rd match against Surrey Jaguars, his bowling figure was 2/14 in 4 overs, including the wickets of

Alex Hales Alexander Daniel Hales (born 3 January 1989) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batter who represented the England cricket team across all formats and played domestically for Nottinghamshire. He made his One Day International ...

and Liton Das. In his 4th match against Mississauga Panthers he bowled exceptionally well with the bowling figure of 3/31 including the wicket of

James Neesham James Douglas Sheahan Neesham (born 17 September 1990), better known as Jimmy Neesham, is a New Zealand international cricketer who plays for the national team. He also plays in various T20 leagues around the globe as an all-rounder. He was a m ...

. There was some controversy in Toronto national's last match against Vancouver knight Saad had taken the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan as Zaman Khan clearly caught the ball on camera but the third umpire decided to gift Rizwan a life by giving it a not out. In August 2023, he was appointed the captain of New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers for the 2023

season. He ended the season with being the 4th most economical bowler of the tournament with the economy rate of 3.82 from 9 matches. In June 2024, he was selected to play for the Toronto Nationals franchise team in the 2024 Global T20 Canada tournament. Toronto Nationals were named Champions for

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...

by beating the defending champions Montreal Tigers by 8 wickets. Just like the Nationals, Saad had a successful season by being the 2nd most economical bowler of the tournament with the economy rate of 4.18 from 6 matches. In his 9 wickets that season, he was able to dismiss the likes of

Usman Khawaja Usman Tariq Khawaja (; born 18 December 1986) is an Australian international cricketer who represents the Australia national cricket team in Test cricket and Queensland cricket team, Queensland. Khawaja made his first-class cricket debut for N ...

Rahmanullah Gurbaz Rahmanullah Gurbaz (; born 28 November 2001) is an Afghan cricketer. He made his international debut for Afghanistan in September 2019. His parents hail from the Gurbaz tribe of Afghanistan. In January 2021, he became the first batsman for Afgha ...

and Ifthikar Ahmed In August 2024, he was selected to play for the New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers for the 2024

season. In November 2024, he was signed to play for Lumbini Lions in the inaugural season of

Nepal Premier League The Nepal Premier League, officially known as Siddhartha Bank NPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's Twenty20 cricket league held annually in Nepal. Founded by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) in 2024, the league features eight province ...

. Despite Lumbini Lions failing to make it to the playoffs, he consistently performed well with bat, bowl and in field for his team. He was leading leading wicket-taker for his team with 9 dismissals. He was also leading catch taker for his team with 6 catches. He batted with 2nd best strike rate in his team scoring 83 runs with the strike rate off 131.74. In the 16th match of the tournament, Saad formed the highest 5th-wicket partnership of the tournament by scoring 114 runs together with

Rohit Paudel Rohit Kumar Paudel (born 2 September 2002) is a Nepalese cricketer and the captain of the Nepal national cricket team. He made his List A debut for Nepal in the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament on 8 February 2018. He was in ...

International career

Early years

In June 2008 Saad was named in Canada's Squad for the

2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup The 2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup was the fourth ICC Intercontinental Cup tournament, an international first-class cricket tournament between nations who have not been awarded Test status by the International Cricket Council. The first fixtu ...

. He made his International debut on 4 July 2008 playing against

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. He looked impressive in his debut as he took 4 wickets, including the wicket of Bermuda's captain Irving Romaine who was close to scoring a century. In December 2009, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2010 Quadrangular Twenty20 Series in Sri Lanka. In January 2010, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played from 9–13 February 2010 in the United Arab Emirates and a part of ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier series. The top two teams progressed to play in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, the international cham ...

tournament in the United Arab Emirates. He made his T20 debut against UAE in the 9th match of the tournament.

Comeback

In April 2015, he made a comeback into international cricket by getting named in Canada's squad for the

2015 ICC Americas Twenty20 Division One The 2015 ICC Americas Twenty20 Division One was a cricket tournament held in the United States from 3–10 May 2015. All matches were played at the World Sports Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. The top two teams at the tournament, Canada and the Un ...

. In June 2015, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier The 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, for the 2016 World Twenty20, was held from 6 to 26 July 2015. The tournament was hosted by both Ireland and Scotland. 51 matches were played among 14 nations, down from 72 matches among 16 nations previous ...

tournament hosted by Scotland and Ireland. He was the most economical bowler for Canada with 6.23 economy rate from 5 matches. In May 2017, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2017 ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament in Uganda. In January 2018, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament in Namibia. In August 2018, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Americas Qualifier tournament in

Morrisville, North Carolina Morrisville is a town located primarily in Wake County, North Carolina, United States (a small portion extends into neighboring Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the populatio ...

. In April 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two The 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was an international cricket tournament that took place in April 2019 in Namibia. It was contested by six teams; Canada national cricket team, Canada, Hong Kong national cricket team, Hong Kong, Om ...

tournament in Namibia. Even though Canada was not able to gain ODI status but he had a successful tournament by being the leading wicket-taker for Canada, with 11 dismissals in 6 matches. In August 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament. He made his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) debut for Canada against the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

on 18 August 2019. In September 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2019 Malaysia Cricket World Cup Challenge League A tournament and was the most economical bowler for Canada with the economy rate of 3.50 from 5 matches. In October 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine the teams that would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finis ...

tournament in the United Arab Emirates. He was the leading wicket-taker for Canada in the tournament, with 9 dismissals in 5 matches. In October 2021, he was named in Canada's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was played as part of the qualification process for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. It took place in November 2021 in Antigua, with the top two teams progressing t ...

tournament in Antigua. On 14 November 2021, in Canada's match against

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, Saad became the first bowler to bowl four overs in a T20I match without conceding a run. In February 2022, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier A tournament in Oman.

Captaincy career

In July 2022, he was appointed as the captain of Canada's squad against Nepal's tour of Canada which was scheduled for Nepal's preparation of 2022 Scotland Tri-Nation Series. The tour had two One Day matches scheduled but persistent rain had completely washed out the first match however in the second match Canada secured 83 runs convincing win over

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. In July 2022, he was named vice captain of Canada's squad for the 2022 Canada Cricket World Cup Challenge League A tournament. In the sixth match of the tournament, against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, he took his first

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

in List A cricket. In October 2022, he was named as the captain of Canada's Squad for the 2022 Desert Cup T20I Series and also for a bilateral 50-over-a-side three-match series against

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

to prepare for the final event of the 2019–2022 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League. On 14 November 2022, in Canada's Match against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, Saad scored unbeaten 29 off 7 balls which made him the second batsman to bat at a strike rate of 414.28, which is the highest strike rate in

innings. Saad had a very successful stint as the captain of Canada by winning both the T20I series as well as the One Day series of 2022 Desert Cup. EricwalshSaad

In November 2022, he was named as the captain of Canada's squad for the 2022 Malaysia Cricket World Cup Challenge League A tournament. In the forth match of the tournament against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, he took his second Fifer of his international career. He finished the tournament being the third leading wicket taker of

ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Challenge League is a cricket competition contested in the List A format, and the bottom level of the three-league Cricket World Cup qualification system, which was introduced in 2019. Twelve teams participate in ...

by taking 25 wickets in 14 matches. In February 2023, he was appointed as the captain of Canada's squad for Canada's tour of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

which consists of four One Day matches against Sri Lanka Development team for the preparation of 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off In March 2023, he was named as the captain of Canada's squad for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off tournament hosted by Namibia. He made his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) debut on 27 March 2023, for Canada, against Jersey in that tournament. Under his leadership, Canada was able to successfully gain their ODI status back after 9 years and qualify for 2023–2027 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 In September 2023, he was named as the captain of Canada's squad for the

2023 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier The 2023 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier was a cricket tournament that formed part of the qualification process for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 ...

. Saad displayed excellent leadership skills by winning 4 out of 5 matches which helped Canada qualify for their first ever

ICC Men's T20 World cup The ICC Men's T20 World Cup, formerly the ICC World Twenty20, is a biennial world cup for cricket in Twenty20 International (T20I) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in every odd year from 2007 to 2009, ...

In January 2024, he was named as the captain of Canada's squad for Canada's tour of Hong Kong which consist of One Day series against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and

. In February 2024, he was named as the captain of Canada's squad for Canada's tour of Nepal which consist of three One Day International (ODI) matches. In February 2024, he was named as the captain of Canada's squad for 2024 United Arab Emirates Tri-Nation Series (round 2). Team Canada did excellent in this round under his captaincy by staying unbeaten against UAE and Scotland. In April 2024, he was announced as the captain of Canada's squad for Canada's tour of USA. The series forms part of both teams' preparation ahead of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup In May 2024, he was named as the captain of Canada's squad for their debut for

. On June 7 against Ireland, he led his team to pull off their first-ever win in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Post-Captaincy

In July 2024, he was named in Canada's ODI and T20I squad for the 2024 Netherlands Tri-Nation Series. Saad had a successful tour by being the leading wicket taker for Canada in both ODI and T20I Series by picking up 13 wickets collectively. On 16 August 2024, in Canada's match against

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, Saad became the first Canadian to pick up 50 wickets in T20I . In September 2024, he was named in Canada's ODI and T20I squad for the 2024 Canada Tri-Nation Series. He had an exceptional all-round performance as he finished the T20I series by being the leading run scorer and leading wicket taker for Canada In February, he was named in Canada's ODI and T20I squad for the 2025 Namibia Tri-Nation Series. In April 2025, he was named in Canada's squad for 2025 North American Cup held in

. He finished the tournament by being the 2nd leading wicket taker and most economical bowler for Canada in the tournament with 9 wickets. In May 2025, he was named in Canada's squad for 2025 United States Tri-Nation Series In June 2025, he was named in Canada's squad for 2025 Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier.

References

External links

* {{Saint Lucia Kings squad Living people 1986 births Canadian cricketers Canada Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers from Gujranwala Canadian sportspeople of Pakistani descent St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers Pakistani emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Saint Lucia Kings cricketers