Co-hosts USA's vice-captain Aaron Jones announced himself on the grandest stage as he belted an unbeaten 94 to get their side off the mark in the T20 World Cup 2024. Aaron Jones picked apart Canada's bowling attack by clobbering 10 sixes in his 40-ball innings as USA gunned down 195 with 7 wickets to spare. Hence, netizens are inevitably wondering who Jones is.
Born in Queens, New York to Barbadian parents on October 19th, 1994 the right-handed batter likely targeted playing for the West Indies. He debuted for Combined Campuses in 2016 in the List A format and made his first appearance in first-class cricket for Barbados in 2017. The debut for the United States came in 2018 in the form of an ODI and received his maiden T20I cap for them an year later.
The 29-year-old's highest of 123 not out in ODIs came against Scotland in August 2022, while the unbeaten 94 is his best in the shortest format.
The right-hander joined the Rangpur Riders ahead of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2023 edition, but did not get a game and suffered the same fate during his stay in Seattle Orcas in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket (MLC) in 2023.
"We want to leave everything out there on the park" - Aaron Jones
A night before the tournament opener, Jones claimed that they will give it their all in the showpiece event, regardless of what the outcome is. As quoted by ICC, he claimed:
"We don't want to regret anything. We want to leave everything out there on the park. If we come out on top, it's great. If we don't come out on top, that's how cricket goes sometimes. But we don't want to regret anything. I think that we've been challenged to be honest, but definitely we have a good squad."
"I thought anything under 200 is chaseable" - Aaron Jones
During the post-match presentation after the seven-wicket win over Canada, Jones asserted that pressure brings out the best in him.
"I don't think it is easy to put it into words. Happy to get my team over the line. I thought anything under 200 is chaseable. We wanted to play aggressive cricket. I think I go through my process while I practice. To be honest, when my team is under pressure it gets the best out of me."
USA will next face Pakistan on June 6th in New York.
