Everything you need to know about the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier Final
Hosts Nepal will be joined by Bahrain, Hong Kong China, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Singapore and United Arab Emirates at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier Final 2023 with two spots up for grabs at the showpiece event next year.
The eight teams will be split into two groups of four for the Asia Qualifier Final to take place from 30 October to 5 November.
The top two teams in each group will secure a place in the high-stakes semi-finals on 3 November where the pair of winners will book a ticket to the USA and West Indies for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The two qualifiers will then meet in the Final of the Asia Qualifier on 5 November for a chance to win the tournament but with their spots at the main event already secure.
Nepal are well-placed to claim one of the two spots at the T20 World Cup next year with fervent home support sure to boost the team that surged into the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier earlier this year.
Recent qualifier tournament experience should only benefit the emerging Nepal outfit that is currently ranked 16th in the world in the MRF Tyres ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings.
The rising Nepal are the highest-ranked team heading into the Asia Qualifier Final, although little separates the eight teams with the UAE (17), Oman (20), Hong Kong, China (21), Malaysia (25), Kuwait (27), Bahrain (28) and Singapore (36) all close behind.
Nepal have more recently fine-tuned for the event with four near-flawless T20I victories against Hong Kong China and the UAE in a warm-up tri-series on home soil.
Oman also have the form to eye a strong run through the qualifier event after taking out the Gulf Cricket T20I Tournament last month when beating the UAE by five wickets in the final.
The UAE had topped the standings with four impressive victories from their five group matches but failed to contain Aqib Ilyas and Ayaan Khan in Oman’s chase in the decider.
But the Middle East powerhouse can turn to a proud recent history in the format which has included being part of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Kuwait and Malaysia can also carry confidence into the Asia Qualifier Final after their recent success at the Asia Sub-Regional Qualifiers kept their hopes alive of progressing to the main event next year.
Groups
Group A
Malaysia
Nepal
Oman
Singapore
All Group A matches will be played at Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
Group B
Bahrain
Hong Kong, China
Kuwait
United Arab Emirates
All Group B matches will be played at Mulpani Cricket Stadium.
T20WC format and qualification
A total of 20 teams will compete for the big prize at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, with the top two at the Asia Qualifier Final among the last teams to snatch a spot.
The United States and West Indies will appear at the event as hosts.
Australia, England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka will be part of the tournament after finishing in the top-eight teams in the 2022 edition.
Bangladesh and Afghanistan qualified due to their position in the ICC Men's T20I Team Ranking at the end of the previous T20 World Cup.
Since then Ireland, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Canada have booked their spots through their T20 World Cup regional qualifiers.
Two more teams will join the tournament through the Africa Qualifier Final to be held in Namibia from 20 November to 1 December.
That leaves two Asia sides to help fill the remaining places and take their shot at T20 World Cup glory on the grand stage.
Fixtures
30 October
- United Arab Emirates v Bahrain, 9:00 (local), Mulpani Cricket Stadium
- Nepal v Singapore, 9:00 (local), Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
- Oman v Malaysia, 13:30 (local), Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
- Hong Kong, China v Kuwait, 13:30 (local), Mulpani Cricket Stadium
31 October
- Singapore v Oman, 09:00 (local), Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
- Bahrain v Hong Kong, China, 09:00 (local), Mulpani Cricket Stadium
- Malaysia v Nepal, 13:30 (local), Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
- Kuwait v United Arab Emirates, 13:30 (local), Mulpani Cricket Stadium
2 November
- Nepal v Oman, 09:00 (local), Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
- Hong Kong, China v United Arab Emirates, 09:00 (local), Mulpani Cricket Stadium
- Singapore v Malaysia, 13:30 (local), Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
- Bahrain v Kuwait, 13:30 (local), Mulpani Cricket Stadium
3 November
- Semi-final 1: A1 v B2, 11:00 (local), Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
- Semi-final 2: B1 v A2, 11:00 (local), Mulpani Cricket Stadium
5 November
- Final: winner semi-final 1 v winner semi-final 2, 11:00 (local), Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
T20WC 2024 Qualifiers
Free on ICC.tv: Watch 68 Teams Battle for 8 Spots at the T20 World Cup 2024
Squads
Bahrain
Umer Iimtiaz (c), Abdul Majid Abbasi, Imran Ali Butt, Sohail Ahmed, Haider Ali, Imran Javed Anwer, Junaid Aziz, Rizwan Butt, Ali Dawood, Ahmer Bin Naser, Sarfraz Ali, Yasser Nazeer, Sathaiyah Veerapathiran, Sachin Kumar, Sai Sarthak
Hong Kong, China
Nizakat Mohammad Khan (c), Mohammad Aizaz Khan, Babar Hayat, Ehsan Khan, Adit Gorawara, Anshuman Rath, Ayush Shukla, Raag Kapur, Yasim Murtaza, Zeeshan Ali, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Haroon Mohammad Arshad, Nasrulla Rana, Martin Coetzee, Scott Stephen Mckechnie
Kuwait
Mohamed Aslam (c), Ali Zaheer, Usmangani Ibrahim, Bilal Tahir, Yasin Ishak, Ravija Sandaruwan, Meet Bhavsar, Shiraz Khan, Parvindar Kumar, Mirza Ahmed, Sayed Monib, Nimish Lathief, Clinto Velookkaran Anto, Mohamed Shafeeq Manakkadavath, Ilyas Ahmed
Malaysia
Ahmad Faiz Mohammad Noor, Virandeep Singh, Syed Aziz Syed Mubarak, Vijay Unni Suresh Unni, Muhammad Amir Azim Abd Shukor, Rizwan Haider, Khizar Hayat Durrani, Ainool Hafizs Md Yatim, Pavandeep Singh Jagjit Singh, Ahmad Zubaidi Zulkifle, Syazrul Ezat Idrus, Haiqal Mohd Khair, Sharvin Muniyandy, Muhammad Aiman Zaquan Muhammad Ridzuan, Muhammad Fitri Mohd Sham
Nepal
Rohit Kumar Paudel, Mahamad Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Karan KC, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Binod Bhandari, Bibek Kumar Yadav, Abinash Bohara (Reserves: Lokesh Bahadur Bam, Surya Tamang, Shyam Dhakal, Sagar Dhakal)
Oman
Zeeshan Maqsood, Aaqib Ilyas Sulheri, Kashyapkumar Prajapati, Shoaib Khan, Ayaan Mohammed Khan, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Naseem, Bilal Khan, Ahmad Fayyaz Butt, Kaleemullah, Shakeel Ahmad, Mehran Khan, Prathik Athavale, Sandeep Goud Shreemantula, Siddharth Prasad Bukkapatnam
Singapore
Aritra Dutta (c), Rohan Rengarajan, Surendran Chandramohan, Anish Paraam, Manpreet Singh, Janak Prakash, Akshay Roopak Puri, Thilip Omamdurai Thilappan, Ramesh Kalimuthu, Anantha Krishna, Utsav Rakshit, Aaryan Russell Menon, Amartya Kaul, Aryaveer Chaudhary, Harsha Bharadwaj
United Arab Emirates
Muhammad Waseem, Aryansh Sharma, Alishan Sharafu, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Asif Khan, Aayan Khan, Ali Naseer, Karthik Meiyappan, Sanchit Sharma, Zahoor Khan, Muhammad Jawadullah, Nilansh Keswani, Khalid Shah, Vriitya Aravind
Watch the Asia Qualifier Final
All matches will be available to watch live on FanCode (India) and ICC.tv (UK and rest of the world).
How to watch on ICC.tv
It is free to Sign Up to ICC.tv.
You can then watch ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 Qualifiers live and FREE on ICC.tv in all regions (other than Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan) on:
* ICC.tv website
* ICC.tv mobile apps (available in the App Store and Google Play)
* Samsung TV and LG TV apps
