Few US players have had a more unusual path to international cricket than Ali Khan. Born and raised in Pakistan, he moved to USA with his parents at the age of 18, settling in Ohio. He was a regular in various private T20 cricket tournaments around the USA, but it wasn't until ICC Americas organised an open trial at Indianapolis in September 2015 that he gained wider attention on the national scene.

Khan's pace caught the eyes of several coaches at the trial, in particular those of former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh, and he wound up being picked in a 15-man combined ICC Americas squad to play in the 2016 WICB Nagico Super50 competition. His ability to bowl yorkers consistently, while swinging the ball at around 135 kph, earned him a place in Guyana Amazon Warriors after that February's Caribbean Premier League draft.

On his CPL debut, Khan dismissed Kumar Sangakkara with his first delivery. He became an American citizen and was finally selected in a USA squad for the first time for the 2016 Auty Cup and ICC WCL Division Four in Los Angeles.

Peter Della Penna