Doha, Qatar: The Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) Rising Stars T20 tournament will get underway on November 14, with Pakistan facing Oman in the opener at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Asian Town. The event, formerly labeled the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, will run until November 23.
The tournament was officially launched and the winners’ trophy was unveiled at an event held at the La Cigale Hotel in Doha last evening, attended by key officials from the ACC, Qatar Cricket Association (QCA), match officials, and players and officials from the participating teams.
Among the top officials were ACC Finance and Operations General Manager Thusith Perera, QCA member and Tournament Director Mohammad Abdulla Al Meer, Assistant Tournament Director Khaled Al Suwaidi from QCA and ACC Legal Head Esha Chatterjee.
The matches will be held in two groups.
‘A’ teams from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while Hong Kong, Oman and the UAE field their senior sides. Two matches are slated each day from November 14 to 19, followed by semi-finals on November 21 and the final on November 23.
India A, one of the formidable sides that will be in the hunt for the title this time, will be led by wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, with Naman Dhir as his deputy. The squad also includes 14-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi, as well as Priyansh Arya.
Speaking at the launch, Sharma indicated that his team had done some ‘homework’ before arriving in Doha.
“We are blessed to have a very good support staff, media team and video analysts. We have got some data from the games already played here, and most of the scores have been around 150-160. So, based on that, we are preparing and assuming that these wickets will play like typical Asian wickets,” Sharma said.
Asked if teams with stronger batting or stronger bowling would do better in this tournament, Jitesh said: “I think batsmen win you games, but bowlers win you tournaments - that’s what I believe. Whichever team bowls well will have the best chance to win the tournament.”
Sri Lanka A, the runners-up from the previous edition held in Oman, are led by left-arm spinning all-rounder Dunith Wellalage.
“We came here after finishing as runners-up last time, so we know what it takes to go deep in a tournament,” Wellalage said.
“The conditions in Qatar are quite similar to what we have at home, and that gives us confidence. We have a group of experienced players and a strong support staff.
Our focus is simple: cut down on mistakes, trust our plans, and try to deliver our best in every game,” the 22-year-old said.
“I have been playing with most of these boys since the Under-19 level for more than three years, so the understanding in the team is very good,” he added.
“Ramesh Mendis, Nishan Madushka, Nuwanindu Fernando, Sahan Arachchige - all of them are experienced and I am sure we will get good support from them. Every team here is a challenge and we respect all our opponents, but we believe in our squad. The environment is really good, we have been given an excellent ground to train on, and we want to make full use of these conditions.”
“I am grateful to the Asian Cricket Council and to Qatar for hosting this event,” Wellalage said.
Sri Lanka coach Avishka Gunawardena praised the host venue, saying: “We had a practice session at West End Park Stadium and the side wickets were very well maintained.”
Gunawardena, a former Sri Lanka opener, said it is important to host these tournaments in Qatar to boost the popularity of the sport in the region.
“We saw last time in Oman how cricket there received a huge boost in popularity after the tournament. I believe the same will happen in Qatar and it will help the development of cricket in the country.”
