NEW CHAPTER BEGINS FOR THAILAND MEN

NEW CHAPTER BEGINS FOR THAILAND MEN

Thailand men’s cricket team are taking the first steps on the ladder of qualification to the next ICC World T20 that will be held in Australia in 2020. This is the first time that Thailand men’s cricket team have the chance to take part in the qualification process for the World T20 as they are competing in the ICC World T20 Asia ‘B’ Qualifier that is being held in Malaysia between 3^rd and 12^th October.

The qualification process for the 2020 ICC World T20 is a new expanded version with 12 regional qualifiers across five regions, Africa, Americas, Asia. East Asia Pacific and Europe, which means that a total of 62 teams are taking part in the first stage of qualification.

The Asian region has been divided into two groups with Bahrain, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE competing in Group A, and Bhutan, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore and Thailand in Group B.

Group A was played in Kuwait earlier in the year with UAE, Qatar and Kuwait finishing in the top three places so the seven teams in the ‘B’ qualifier are competing for the last three places in the Asia Final Qualifier that will take place next year.

The top two teams from the Asian Final Qualifier will move on to the main World T20 Qualifier which will be a 16 team event and will also include six countries that will qualify from the ICC T20I Rankings. This is the final qualification stage and six teams will join the leading ten T20I sides in the ICC World T20 held in Australia in October and November 2020.

That is the pathway that Thailand and six other Asian countries are stepping onto as their competition gets underway in Malaysia tomorrow (3^rd October). These are exciting times for Thailand’s men as the women’s team have been making the headlines by competing in the ICC Women’s World T20 qualifying competition for the last five years.

After a long break, the Thai men’s cricket team have been competing in a number of international competitions over the last 18 months. This is the second ICC competition that Thailand have taken part in, having played in the World Cricket League 50-over competition in April 2018. Then they played in 50-over and T20 competitions in the SEA Games in Kuala in August 2018 and then competed in the ACC T20 event held in Bangkok where they faced Bhutan, China and Myanmar.

Nepal are the highest ranked team in the competition and they recently played in the ICC World Cup Qualifier and gained ODI status, but Thailand have faced all the other teams recently in T20 competitions and will be aiming to put on a strong performance to finish in the top three to move on to the Asian Final. The seven teams will in a league, each playing six matches with the last round of matches held on 12^th October.

Thailand have selected a balanced squad with a mixture of players born in Thailand and those who qualify by residence. The team have been together for the past month and they have played a total of six warm-up matches in Malaysia.

Left-arm spinner Vichanath Singh has taken over the captaincy of the Thailand team but he will be given every assistance from Daniel Jacobs who was captain for the ICC and ACC competitions and from Nopphon Senamontree who captained Thailand in the SEA Games.

Experienced players returning to the squad are Mohammad Shafiqul Haque and Ziaul Hoque, whle Nick Janes has gained his first call-up after impressing with bat and ball in the Bangkok Cricket League, but it may be the Thai ethnic players who will catch the eye.

Wanchana Uisuk hit two international centuries in 2017 and it was wonderful to see 20-year-old Chanchai Pengkumta matching him shot for shot in a practice match last Saturday. These two can both bat in the top four and open the bowling and so are ideally suited to the demands of the 20-over game.

Thailand Squad: Vichanath Singh (c), Sittipong Hongsi, Chanchai Pengkumta, Nopphon Senamontree, Kamron Senamontree, Kamron Senamontree, Payupath Sungnard, Wanchana Uisuk, Kiatiwut Suttisan, Daniel Jacobs, Mohammad Shafiqul Haque, Ziaul Hoque, Nick Janes, Sarbjot Singh, Mahsid Faheem

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