Canada look to mix exuberance with experience

Nitish Kumar was just eight when John Davison made his World Cup debut and created a record of scoring the fastest century in the tournament then. Nitish had watched that innings on television and hoped to play a similar role for his adopted country, Canada, in the future.

Now 16, the future of Canada cricket could pair up with its most popular face, 40-year-old Davison, to create another first for the minnows of world cricket.

Nitish and Davison are the youngest and the oldest players in this edition of the World Cup and could pair up at the top of the order against Zimbabwe on Monday as Canada look to end their eight-match losing streak in the tournament.

Nitish, the second youngest debutant in One-day Internationals after Pakistan's Hasan Raza, was on the bench in Canada's opening game against Sri Lanka, which they lost by 210 runs after being bowled out for 122 runs.

The class XI student had to take a month's leave from school to come here and insists that he is looking forward to the opportunity. “The competition here is very tough but I back myself," said the youngster, whose parents had shifted to Canada from Ludhiana before his birth.

While Nitish is raring to go if given a chance, even Davison is not daunted by the idea of playing alongside a player 24 years his junior. "I saw him batting for the first time when he was six. And he was a good player even then," said the allrounder, who played club cricket with Nitish's father.

“When I first saw him, I thought, ‘Jeez, it would be good to play with him’,” Davison added.