Who is Aaron Jones? 5 interesting facts about USA's record-breaking Player of the Match in T20 World Cup 2024 opener

United States (US) batter Aaron Jones shot into the limelight in the T20 World Cup 2024 opener by slamming 94* off 40 balls against Canada in Dallas. Jones' terrific innings helped the US gun down 195 runs and get off to a winning start in the showpiece event.

During this knock, Jones raced to his fifty off 22 balls, which is the fastest by a US batter in T20Is. He is now the second player after Chris Gayle to hit 10 or more sixes in a T20 WC innings. The 29-year-old also registered the second-highest individual knock in T20 WC debut, behind Gayle's 117 in 2007.

Jones made his T20I debut in March 2019 against the United Arab Emirates. Since then, he has featured in 27 games and aggregated 478 runs at an average of 28.11, with two fifties. On that note, let's take a look at five interesting facts about Jones.

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#1 Made his domestic debut in the West Indies

Aaron Jones was born in New York to Barbadian parents in 1994. He made his List-A debut for Combined Campuses and Colleges in 2016, while playing his maiden first-class match for Barbados in the following year.

Jones played with esteemed Caribbean international players like Shai Hope and Jason Holder during his time with the Barbados team.

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#2 Switched to USA in 2018

By virtue of being born in the US, Jones was eligible to play for the USA national team. After getting limited opportunities by Combined Campuses and Colleges & Barbados, Jones was left out of the Barbados 50-over squad in 2018. As a result, Jones decided to ply his trade for the United States team.

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#3 Key contributor for USA to gain ODI status in 2019

In the WCL Division Three 2018-19, Aaron Jones emerged as the USA's finest batter with 200 runs in five innings. This helped them earn promotion to WCL Division Two, where he scored 156 runs in five innings, with a top score of 103*.

With the US finishing in fourth position in WCL Division Two, they earned an ODI status after 15 years, since last playing the Champions Trophy in 2004.

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#4 Aaron Jones was appointed as US's vice-captain in 2021

Due to his consistent contributions and ability to handle pressure, Aaron Jones was appointed as the vice-captain of the US for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier.

Since then, Jones has been serving this role to perfection, while being able to support to skipper, Monank Patel.

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#5 Went undrafted in the MLC 2024 draft

Aaron Jones was a part of the Seattle Orcas squad, which went on to finish as a runner-up in the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2023. However, he didn't play any of the games and was released from the roster.

In the recent MLC draft, Jones did not find any suitors. However, with an additional draft round on June 16, the right-hand batter is likely to secure a place on any of the teams.