Global T20 Canada 2018 Schedule, Squads of all teams 

Squad Analysis

Smith will be looking to make his mark in the Global T20 Canada

Toronto Nationals

In headlines for bagging the services of Steven Smith, Toronto packs a star-filled line-up and are heavy on all-rounders primarily. Most likely to be led by one of the most successful T20 leaders, well not too flashy credentials other than a stadium being named after him, Darren Sammy is a well-proven captain. They also boast a good host of Pakistani talent, with all of the recruits having done extremely well in the recent edition of the Pakistan Super League.

UAE all-rounder Rohan Mustafa will be their trump card, the dark knight in the team of glittering superheroes. He caught the attention of the franchise owners with his consistent all-round performances in the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Region Qualifier, playing for the UAE.

Montreal Tigers

With arguably the greatest T20 bowlers in their ranks, the Montreal based side are going into the tournament with a clear strategy. Borrowing a trick or two from the likes of Perth Scorchers and Sunrisers Hyderabad, all their international recruits are either bowlers or all-rounders, hence they'll be looking to play a more restricting brand of cricket.

Well, with Lasith Malinga and Sunil Narine teamed up, you won't be needing your batsmen to fire in each game and hence Montreal has made the bold and appreciable decision of backing the local talent as far as the batting stocks are concerned, Mohammad Hafeez will be a vital element in that aspect though.

Edmonton Royals

This franchise replaced the initially declared Ottawa based side, and one look at their squad would tell you that they have made firepower a priority in picking their players. Shahid Afridi, who recently probably played his last ever international match, will be the face of the side that boasts a mix of young as well as experienced brands of aggression.

This is highlighted by the presence of the likes of Chris Lynn and Christiaan Jonker, both of them will be looking to perform well in this league to boost their credentials and earn the currently vacant middle-order berths in their respective countries' national sides.

Vancouver Knights

They have also taken the Edmonton route with a host of aggressive players who have the mettle to single-handedly win games for their sides. Andre Russell, perhaps the best all-rounder in T20 cricket at the moment will be an exciting prospect. Post his return from a one-year suspension he has looked more dangerous than ever and when clubbed together with Chris Gayle, it could only equate to destructive performances.

In the bowling department, however, they have the element of skill and guile, spearheaded by New Zealand's seasoned fast bowler Tim Southee who can swing it at 145 clicks and can also bowl slow dipping yorkers when required. He will be instrumental to the team's success.

Winnipeg Hawks

Probably the most balanced side in the contest, the Hawks have managed to create a very good combination, putting in together ballistic openers, brisk accumulators for the middle-order travails, swift bowlers for the new rock and the cunning of Dwayne Bravo to come on stage when the going gets tough, either in the batting or in the bowling.

All eyes will be on David Warner, whose international career is at crossroads after an extremely emotionally violent and turbulent tour of South Africa, he has often spoken in cryptic tones about wanting to be a freelancing cricketer, this might be the beginning of Davey the Journeyman.

Cricket West Indies B Team

To begin with they were named the Caribbean All Stars XI, but now it seems like WICB has resorted to using the GT20 Canada as the platform to give the up and coming raw talents a stage to perform on, with not much other than prodigious wicket-keeper Nicholas Pooran to write home about, the side is mostly filled with recent U19 representatives or fringe understudies from state cricket.

Nevertheless, the energetic youth in the side could churn some magic against all odds and with a few good days, who knows, they just might go all the way. The one thing they will have going in their favour is the cohesion due to the already established proximity between the players, hailing from the same broad region and many of them have been teammates in the past.