The first-ever edition of the Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) Challengers Cup 2023 is set to begin today in the Bangkok City of Thailand. The Challengers Cup is an expansive and extensive program by the Asian Cricket Council that is an opportunity for the associate nations to display their talent and join the pathway structure that ultimately leads to a qualification at the premier Asia Cup event.
The ACC Challengers Cup is the lowest-tier international event that will serve as a qualification ladder to the Asia Cup. Thailand is hosting the event in Bangkok and the participating associate nations include Bahrain, Bhutan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia Maldives, and Iran alongside EAP invitees Indonesia.
The ACC Challengers Cup 2023 will be hosted in the 50-over ODI format and subsequently, the premier event will also be hosted in the same format. The winners and runners-up at the Challengers Cup will pave their way to the ACC Premier Cup that is scheduled to take place in April. The Premier Cup will act as a direct qualification tournament for the Asia Cup.
The ACC Premier Cup 2023 will be hosted by Nepal in April 2023. Hosts Nepal alongside UAE, Oman, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Qatar, and Kuwait will be participating in the event that will enroute the top two teams to the Asia Cup 2023.
Most of the teams who are participating at the Challengers Cup are not equipped with the 50-over format in the recent past and the championship will mark their return to the format. Nations like Bahrain and Bhutan had no competitive ODI fixtures for a long time as ICC had previously scrapped the World Cup Super League program for associate nations.
What’s there in a nutshell
The winner of the ACC Challenger Cup 2023 & runners-up will join eight established associate nations including ODI nations UAE, Nepal, and Oman together with Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Qatar, and Kuwait at the ACC Premier Cup to be held in Nepal 2023. The Champions of Premier Cup will automatically qualify for Asia Cup 2023 while the top three teams from the tournament will earn a place at the Emerging Teams Asia Cup featuring the Under 23s sides from Asian Full Members.
ACC Challengers Cup 2023 Format:
The ACC Challengers Cup will feature eight teams divided into two groups of four. Each group will play the games in a single round-robin format. The top two teams of each group will march into the cross-over semi-finals that will act as decisive fixtures for qualification. The winners finally will head to the Premier Cup 2023.
Group A: Bahrain, Bhutan, the Maldives and Iran
Group B: Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Myanmar.
ACC Challengers Cup 2023: How Teams look like:
Bahrain & Saudi are favorites to progress in the group stage during the fixtures based on their T20I Rankings. However, the change in format & less exposure to crossover fixtures between Gulf & east Asia could act as a drawback for both nations. While Myanmar & Indonesia have the potential & could prove a tough competition for others. But Bahrain’s true competition will be Bhutan who looked in astute form during their warm-up fixtures against Bangkok. Maldives on the other hand has given tough competition to Thailand & Bhutan in past. However, their struggle against Gulf teams in the limited-overs format is real. While Iran who has rarely participated in International fixtures can have a tough time in front of these experienced teams.
ACC Challengers Trophy Full Schedule
24th February, 9.30 local – Bahrain vs Bhutan, Terdthai CG, Bangkok
24th February, 9.30 local – Maldives vs Iran, AIT Ground, Bangkok
25th February, 9.30 local – Saudi Arabia vs Indonesia, Terdthai CG, Bangkok
25th February, 9.30 local – Thailand vs Myanmar, AIT Ground, Bangkok
26th February, 9.30 local – Bahrain vs Maldives, Terdthai CG, Bangkok
26th February, 9.30 local – Bhutan vs Iran, AIT Ground, Bangkok
27th February, 9.30 local Saudi Arabia vs Thailand, Terdthai CG, Bangkok
27th February, 9.30 local – Indonesia vs Myanmar, AIT Ground, Bangkok
28th February, 9.30 local Maldives vs Bhutan, Terdthai CG, Bangkok
28th February, 9.30 local – Iran vs Bahrain, AIT Ground, Bangkok
1st March, 9.30 local – Thailand vs Indonesia, Terdthai CG, Bangkok
1st March, 9.30 local -Saudi Arabia vs Myanmar, AIT Ground, Bangkok
3rd March, 9.30 local -Semi-Final 1, Terdthai CG; Semifinal 2, AIT Ground
5th March, 9.30 local – Final
ACC Challenger Trophy 2023: Full Squads
Thailand:
Akshaykumar Yadav (C), Daniel Jacobs, Chanchai Pengkumta, Jandre Coetzee, Chaloemwong Chatpaisan, Narawit Nuntarach, Phiriyaphong Suanchuai, Robert Raina, Vichanath Singh, Sittipong Hongsi, Nopphon Senamontree, Sorawat Desungnoen, Mahsid Faheem, Naveed Pathan
Bahrain:
Haider Ali (C), Prashant Kurup, Sarfraz Ali, Imran Anwar, Sohail Ahmed, Ali Dawood, Ahmer Bin Nisar, Sathaiyah Veerapathiran, Junaid Aziz, Abdul Majid, Shahbaz Badar, Rizwan Butt, Abid Ullah, Zeeshan Abbas, Yasser Nazeer
Bhutan:
Jigme Singye (C), Thinley Jamtsho, Manoj Adhikari, Suprit Pradhan, Tenzin Wangchuk, Ranjung Mikyo Dorji, Tenjin Ragbey, Namgay Thinley, Ngawang Thinley, Sonam Yeshey, Tashi Phuntsho, Tshering Penjor, Namgang Chojay and Gakul Kumar Ghalley
Maldives:
Adam Nasif (C), Ahmed Ameel, Mohamed Rishwan, Ali Shunan, Mohamed Mahafooz, Ismail Nazwan, Hassan Haziq, Leem Shafeeq, Hassan Ibrahim, Ibrahim Rizan, Ibrahim Nashath, Shius Fareed, Mohamed Azzam, Ismail Ali
Iran, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia: To be decided
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