KUWAIT NATIONAL TEAM TO PARTICIPATE IN ACCT-20 CUP- UAE
Kuwait Cricket (KC) under the auspicious of Kuwait Olympic Committee has been an associate member of International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2005 and a full member of Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
Kuwait participated in the ACC Trophy for the first time in 2000 and later pulled off a series of upsets to finish at a promising third place in the event, only just missing out on qualification for the 2005 ICC Trophy. Kuwait Cricket has hosted eleven International tournaments including the World Cricket League Division 8 which Kuwait won in 2010 and later on won the WCL Division Seven in Botswana in May 2011.
Kuwait cricket (KC) under the leadership of Sheikh Dari Fahed Al Ahmad Al Sabah will now have the honor of playing ACC-T20 tournament in UAE starting from the 25th of January until the 30th of January 2015. Kuwait will take on the classy Singapore at the historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium on the 25th January to kick start their campaign. The other teams participating in the tournament are Malaysia, Maldives, Oman & Saudi Arabia.
The significance of the tournament is immense as the last ACC Twenty20 in 2013 resulted in Hong Kong and Nepal joining Afghanistan and UAE in the World Twenty20 qualifier, and reaching the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, since then, all four countries have maintained their position and ability to challenge for places in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India. The winner of this year’s ACC T20 cup in Dubai goes up to Ireland, just like the other four ACC nations, to be just a few more victories away from a global event next year in India.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have flair aplenty and T20 cricket suits them best of all the formats, Maldives and Oman have talent, discipline and desire and can beat anybody on their day, Singapore have depth, class and ability and have come close many times at 50-over level to push for a place in the world cricket league before just falling back.
For all the management, teams and for all the cricketers in Sharjah, coming this week, it’s going to be how well they focus on their skill and passion. Six associate nations will join the top ten in ICC World Twenty20 2016, it could just as easily be one of these ACC countries as anybody else.
The Kuwait national team has been training vigorously at the Sulabiya cricket ground over the past one month with some competitive practice matches against the best of rest of Kuwait at TACK entertainment city cricket ground – Doha. The senior coach Sameer Desai has been well supported by the overseas coach from India, Biju George who has really ensured that the preparation of the team is up to the mark in terms of skill, match practice and most importantly, fitness. Sudhakar Shetty is the manager of the Kuwait national team for this tour and has ensured over the past month that the best and the most deserving squad is picked for this high profile tour and with the leadership of Mr. Haider Farman, the hon. Secretary of Kuwait Cricket, there is no denying that the chosen squad has the potential to win and win big in Dubai.
The hard hitting batsman of Kuwait Eagles, Amir Javed has been picked as the captain of the national team who’s performances in the country’s biggest domestic tournaments organized by TACK under the umbrella of KC has played a vital role in his selection as the captain. His deputy will be the intelligent Abid Mushtaq of safety plush Dashers. In order to boost the morale of the squad and all the players, the director of domestic cricket and marketing, Sajid Ashraf announced at the official dinner held at TACK-TEC that ETI labels from Italy and Gulf four from Kuwait are going to be the proud sponsors of the national team and will offer cash awards of 300 $ for every match for the best batsman, best bowler and best fielder.
Taking giant leaps to ensure the successful development of domestic cricket and international cricket in Kuwait, the secretary general of Kuwait cricket, Mr. Haider Farman, under the leadership of Sheikh Dari Fahed Al Ahmad Al Sabah is working day and night to ensure that the locals (Kuwaitis) take up the sport of cricket in Kuwait similar to the way the expatriates have taken so that one day, Kuwait can be seen in a World Cup event hosted by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
All the supporters and fans of the Kuwait national team, log on to www.cricinfo.com, www.asiancricket.org, and www.cricketkuwait.org for live updates and scores.
Kuwait National Team Squad:
Amir Javed (Captain)
Abid Mushtaq ( Vice Captain)
Khalid Butt
Kashif Shareef
Sibtain Raza
Hisham Mirza
Usman Waheed
Bilal Muzaffer
Irfan Mughal
Raheel Khan
Yasir Butt
Faizan Ali
Ali Zaheer
Haroon Shahid
Manager: Sudhakar Shetty
Senior Coach: Sameer Desai Overseas Coach: Biju Geor
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Well done Kuwait team