Seven teams battle for top spot in 2017 ICC WCL Division 1 – Asia

The 2017 ICC WCL Division 1 – Asia to be held in Thailand, from April 22 to May 1, 2017.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announces the men’s squads for the 2017 ICC WCL Division 1 – Asia to be held in Thailand, from April 22 to May 1, 2017.

The teams competing in the tournament are hosts Thailand, Bhutan, Bahrain, China, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The winner of the qualifier will progress to ICC WCL Division 5 which will be staged in September 2017. Five regional qualifiers will play alongside two teams relegated from Division 4 and one team from Division 5.

The ICC 2017 WCL Division 1 – Asia sees the seven teams play each other in a league with matches played on three grounds in the city of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Each team will play a total of six matches spread over a 10 day period where the first round of matches begin on 22nd April.

Bhutan squad

Mohideen Kader, CEO of Cricket Association of Thailand, thanked the ICC for the opportunity to host this prestigious tournament. ‘I would like to welcome players and officials from all seven competing teams, whether they have played cricket in Chiang Mai before or are coming here for the first time. I look forward to meeting many old friends and to staging a competitive and enjoyable tournament’.

Jigme Singye, captain of Bhutan team, spoke of how important playing cricket in a major tournament is for his country. ‘The people in our country have great love and support for this sport. This tournament will decide the future of cricket in the country. Our team work and team spirit are strengths that keep us on the same page all the time on and off the field. Thank you for this opportunity and we hope there will be more tournaments like this for cricket-loving countries like us.’

Inam ul Haq, captain of Qatar also was grateful to ICC for his team to have the chance to play in a tournament like this. ‘I would like to thank ICC for giving associate member teams the opportunity to play cricket and progress a step closer to major events. Qatar team has a lot of potential – our batting line up is strong’. Qatar have looked impressive in their warm-up matches with two batsmen scoring hundreds.

Kuwait National Squad

Saudi Arabia are another one of the favorites, having qualified for WCL previously before not being able to take part. ‘It is an important tournament for Saudi cricket and a must win for us, as we had qualified in for WCL Division 6 in 2015, but couldn’t participate due to visa issues. Now, we have another opportunity to qualify for WCL 5 and we do not want to let go of this opportunity.’ said captain of Saudi Arabia team

Mohammad Ghulam, Kuwait captain, said his team was looking forward to playing in the tournament very much and showed a very pleasing attitude. ‘It is going to be an interesting and competitive tournament. We are not here to win or lose. We are here to play our best cricket and to entertain the locals. At the end of the day, cricket has to be the winner.’

Qatar Squad

Daniel Jacobs, Thailand captain, said that he and his team were taking part in the first ICC men’s tournament to be staged in Thailand and he described the rapid progress that was being made by the young Thai players in his side who were so proud to play cricket for their country on home soil. ‘The young Thai players have developed so much over the last four years and it has been fantastic for us to have a full time coach and to be together all the time. Everybody in the team knows their roles and we are all so proud to play for our country.’

SQUADS:

Bahrain
Mirza Azeem Ul-Haque (C), Mohammad Tahir Dar , Babar Ali, Junaid Aziz Mohamed Aziz Khan Amir K Khan Mehr, Gamini Sudarshana Perera Rupasinghe Arachchige, Imran Ali Butt, Janaka Chaturanga Kehelwala Gedara, Mohammad Ismail Raja Mohammad Bashir Sheer, Shahzad Aamar, Mohammad Sameer Fayyaz, Mohamed Iqbal Noor, Awad Khan Sher, Bilal Mansoor, Jabbar Amjad

Bahrain National Team

Bhutan
Jigme Singye (C), Sonam Tobgay, Suprit Pradhan, Bushan Gurung, Kencho Norbu, Kishen Ghalley, Tenzin Wangchuk, Rekash Pradhan, Thinley Jamtsho, Kumar Subba, Tenzin Wangchuk, Tobden Singye, Ugyen Dorji, Damber Singh Gurung

China
Yufei Zhang (C), Zihao Wang, Qi Wang, Yu Feng, Cangcang Lu, Suqing Tian, Zelin Zhuang, Tiansheng Ke, Huawen Yan, Weiji Ye, Peng Zhang, Yonghao Jin, Shuyao Jiang, Yongsheng Ge

Kuwait
Muhammad Hussain Ghulam(C), Aamir Javed, Abdullah Hussain Ghulam, Muhammad Irfan, Ali Zaheer, Adnan Idrees, Fiaz Ahmad, Haroon Shahid, Imran Ali, Muhammad Amin, Muhammad Asghar, Muhammad Kashif, Sajid Anjillath Rahath Manzil, Usman Waheed

Thailand Squad

Qatar
Inam Ul Haq (C), Muhammad Awais Malik, Mohammed Rizlan Mohammed Iqbar, Khadeer Mohammed, Iqbal Hussain Chaudhry, Khurram Shahzad, Qalandar Khan, Muhammad Nadeem, Kamran Khan, Tamoor Sajad, Zaheeruddeen Ibrahim, Muhammad Tanveer, Noman Sarwar, Dharmang Hasmukh Patel

Saudi Arabia
Shoaib Ali (C), Muhammad Afzal, Abdul Waheed, Hammas Saeed, Ibrar-ul-Haq, Zeeshan Sarfraz Butt, Omar Imtiaz Chaudhry, Hasnat Ahmed, Shahbaz Rasheed, Imran Arif, Muhammad Mazhar Abbasi, Mohsin Shabbir Rajput, Inayat Saeed, Muhammad Nadeem Javed

Thailand
Daniel Jacobs (C), Nopphon Senamontree, Vichanath Singh, Thanatit Jiraphanthawong, Wanchana Uisuk, Weerachai Maneerat, Bunchai Sombatraksha, Chanchai Pengkumta, Payuputh Sungnard, Ryan Rahul Raina, Sameer Gawas, Md. Shafiqul Haque Titas, Naveed Pathan, Sarabjot Singh

Saudi Arabia team

The matches are being played at Prem Tinsulanonda International School, Chiangmai Gymkhana, Royal Chingmai Golf Club and will be live scored.

Fixtures

Courtesy : icc