Al-Amerat (Oman) 18 August : Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are all ready to compete for the four-team round-robin like Asia Cup qualifier at Al-Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman, beginning on August 20. The team that takes the top prize of the qualifier tournament will be able to earn the right to play in Group A along with India as well as Pakistan in the major Asia Cup event, set to begin in Dubai and Sharjah starting on August 27.
The winners have the opportunity to square with India (August 31) and Pakistan (September 2) in the Asia Cup.
The United Arab Emirates are the most highly ranking T20I team in the qualifier tournament , with 12.However, based on recent results it appears that there won’t be any significant differences between the four teams competing for the spot in Group A in Asia Cup.
Hong Kong will be buoyed by their impressive seven-wicket win against Singapore in the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier B earlier this month in Zimbabwe.Hong Kong also have an experienced former first class cricketer as well as Ireland international Trent Johnston as their head coach.
“The Asia Cup qualifiers, and the Asia Cup, present a fantastic opportunity to end an extremely busy and lengthy stretch of overseas tours with an upbeat note.I’m extremely satisfied of the hard work of every player and the sacrifices they and their families have put in to travel for such a long time.”
“We’ve got a fantastic group of players I’m sure are excited about the chance to be able to qualify for the Asia Cup and take on the nations that play Tests before returning home to enjoy a well-deserved time off,” Johnson was quoted by ICC.
2022 Asia Cup Qualifier schedule:
20 August – Singapore Vs.Hong Kong
August 21 – United Arab Emirates v Kuwait
August 22 – United Arab Emirates v Singapore
August 23 – Kuwait v Hong Kong
August 24 – Singapore v Kuwait
August 24 , Hong Kong v United Arab Emirates
Squads: Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan (c), Kinchit Shah, Zeeshan Ali, Haroon Arshad, Babar Hayat, Aftab Hussain, Ateeq Iqbal, Aizaz Khan, Ehsan Khan, Scott McKechnie, Ghazanfar Mohammad, Yasim Murtaza, Dhananjay Rao, Wajid Shah, Ayush Shukla, Ahan Trivedi, Mohammad Waheed
Kuwait: Mohammed Aslam (c), Nawaf Ahmed, Mohammad Amin, Meet Bhavsar, Adnan Idrees, Muhammad Kashif, Shiraz Khan, Sayed Monib, Usman Patel, Yasin Patel, Shahrukh Quddus, Ravija Sandaruwan, Mohamed Shafeeq, Haroon Shahid, Edson Silva, Bilal Tahir, Ali Zaheer
Singapore as well as UAE are still to announce their squads.
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