Meet Aaron Jones: The USA batter who matched Chris Gayle's elite record during T20 World Cup 2024 match against Canada
Amidst sky-high anticipation, the T20 World Cup 2024 got underway earlier today as co-hosts United States of America (USA) took on neighbours Canada in the tournament opener. USA have looked in good form before the start of the mega-event, registering a historic series-win against Bangladesh.
They continued the momentum coming into the ICC event by getting off to a winning start, eclipsing Canada by 7 wickets.
The chief architect of this win was batter Aaron Jones with his scintillating unbeaten knock of 94* off 40 balls.
In the process, Jones entered the record books and equalled a record held by Universe Boss Chris Gayle. The USA cricketer has become only the second player, following Chris Gayle to hit 10 or more sixes in a T20 World Cup innings. The 29-year-old also achieved the second-highest individual score in a T20 World Cup debut, trailing only Gayle's 117 runs in 2007.
For the unversed, Jones also helped USA gain ODI status after 15 years, having last played in the Champions Trophy back in 2004.
In the 2018-19 World Cricket League (WCL) Division Three, Aaron Jones stood out as the leading batter for the USA, accumulating 200 runs over five innings. His performance was instrumental in securing the team's promotion to WCL Division Two. In that division, he continued to excel, scoring 156 runs in five innings, including an unbeaten 103 as his highest score.
The US team's fourth-place finish in WCL Division Two subsequently earned them the ODI status.
Courtesy of his steady contributions and capability to manage pressure, Aaron Jones was promoted to the vice-captain of the US team for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier.
Since then, Jones has excelled in the role, providing adept support to skipper Monank Patel.
Unfortunately, despite his explosive batting abilities, Aaron Jones went unsold in the Major League Cricket (MLC) draft for the next season. Although he was a part of the Seattle Orcas squad, which went on to finish as a runner-up in MLC 2023, he didn't feature in any of the games and was subsequently released.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Rohit Sharma asks security officials to go easy on the pitch invader
However, with an additional draft round on June 16 and given his current form, Jones is likely to secure a suitor.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.