Cricket
ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2023: All You Need to Know
Oman topped Group A, winning all matches, while Nepal secured second place with one loss. In Group B, UAE dominated, followed by Bahrain. In the semi-finals, Oman crushed Bahrain by ten wickets, and Nepal triumphed over UAE by eight wickets, securing their spots in the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Image Credits: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
The 2023 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier was a crucial cricket tournament in the qualification process for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Nepal hosted the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier Final from 30 October to 6 November, with two spots up for grabs for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2023
| Qualifier A | Qualifier B |
| Kuwait | Bhutan |
| Maldives | China |
| Qatar | Malaysia |
| Saudi Arabia | Myanmar |
| Thailand |
The first stage of the qualification pathway in Asia featured two sub-regional qualifiers, held in Malaysia (July) and Qatar (September) 2023. Malaysia emerged victorious in the Qualifier B tournament, winning all their matches to advance to the regional final. In Qualifier A, Kuwait secured their spot in the regional final by defeating Saudi Arabia in the decisive match.
Regional Final
| Direct qualifiers | Sub-regional qualifiers |
| United Arab Emirates | Kuwait |
| Bahrain | Malaysia |
| Hong Kong | |
| Nepal | |
| Oman | |
| Singapore |
In the regional final, Kuwait and Malaysia were joined by Nepal, Oman, and Bahrain, all of whom competed in the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier A in Oman. Additionally, Hong Kong and Singapore, participants in the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier B in Zimbabwe, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who were eliminated in the first round of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia, also competed.
ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2023 Regional Final: Full Squads
Bahrain | Full Squad
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
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
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
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
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)
Image Credits: @nasser_mo3gza (X Account)
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
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
- ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2023: Regional Final Group A Table
| Positions | Teams | Matches | Won | Lost | Points | NRR |
| 1 | Oman (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.983 |
| 2 | Nepal (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.729 |
| 3 | Malaysia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.187 |
| 4 | Singapore | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | −1.936 |
The regional final took place in Nepal from October 30 to November 5, 2023. The top two teams, Nepal and Oman, secured their places in the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. While Oman topped the group winning all three of their Group A matches, Nepal came second having lost just one of their three games.
ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2023: Regional Final Group B Table
| Positions | Teams | Matches | Won | Lost | Points | NRR |
| 1 | United Arab Emirates (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1.445 |
| 2 | Bahrain (Q) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | −0.398 |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | −0.433 |
| 4 | Kuwait | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | −0.649 |
The Group B saw the United Arab Emirates leading the charge, winning all three group matches quite comfortably. They were followed by Bahrain who could win just one of the three group matches.
Nepal and Oman secured their spots in the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup by winning their respective semi-finals in the ICC's Asia region qualifiers. Oman dominated Bahrain, achieving a ten-wicket victory, while Nepal successfully navigated a challenging chase against UAE, winning by eight wickets.
Image Credits: @EmiratesCricket (X Account)
The 2023 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier was pivotal for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Hosted in Nepal from October 30 to November 5, the tournament determined two qualifying teams. This qualifier underscored the competitive spirit and cricketing prowess of the participating Asian teams.
FAQs
Nepal restricted UAE to 134 for 9 and advanced to the final with an eight-wicket victory, completing the chase with 17 balls to spare. This win also secured their qualification for the T20 World Cup. Although Nepal lost to Oman in the final via a Super Over, their place in the World Cup was already confirmed.
As the Men's T20 World Cup group stage reaches its midpoint, 20 teams fiercely compete to qualify for the Super 8s. The top two teams from the four groups will advance to the next stage.
The World Cup Super 8 stage will be open to the top two teams after the group round. The USA and the West Indies share hosting duties for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2024.
An M.A. in English Literature, Subhayan is an experienced journalist and sports writer. Having worked as a journalist at Hindustan Times, Subhayan covered diverse beats including sports, education, and health, showcasing his versatility and in-depth understanding of various subjects.