Bahrain will play their first-ever One-Day International (ODI) match when they take on Bhutan in the opening Group A match of the inaugural 2023 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men’s Challenger Cup on Friday in Bangkok.
The eight-team tournament will function as an initial qualifying round for the 2023 Asia Cup, scheduled for September in Pakistan. The top two teams will join the UAE, Nepal, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia in the ACC Men’s Premier Cup which will be held in April.
The winner of the Premier Cup will qualify for the Asia Cup while the teams ranked second to fourth will head to the Emerging Cup in Sri Lanka.
“Playing in the Challenger Cup tournament in Thailand will provide Team Bahrain with an opportunity to gain valuable experience playing ODIs on turf wickets,” Bahrain Cricket Federation (BCF) president Hatim Dadabai told the GDN.
“Our players will get the chance to work on their technique and understand different types of pitches, enabling them to better prepare for future international tournaments.
“We are very confident that our team will perform strongly.”
The Maldives and Iran are the other two teams slotted in Group A along with Bahrain and Bhutan. Group B features Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Indonesia along with hosts Thailand.
“The ACC Challenger Cup is the first time the Bahrain team will play ODIs,” BCF advisory board chairman Mohammed Mansoor told the GDN.
“It is an excellent opportunity for the boys to get more international exposure in a tournament which is the pathway to the ACC Men’s Asia Cup. I would like to express my gratitude to the ACC for creating opportunities like these for young cricket-playing nations.
“For our boys, it is a golden chance to create a name for themselves and the country. In addition, this tournament will, I believe, lead to the development of better cricket infrastructure in Bahrain leading to an increase in sports tourism as we begin to host international games here. That is our long-term vision.”
The BCF’s chief development officer Gurumurthy Palani told the GDN that the tournament represented an exciting time for cricket in the kingdom.
“It is an exciting time for Bahrain cricket,” he said. “This tournament is part of the ACC ODI pathway which could see our men’s team playing in the Asia Cup later this year.
“We are very confident that the team will do well in the Challenger Cup and will progress to the Premier Cup in April. We have taken giant strides in international cricket over the past year and a half and I see no reason why our team should not be able to qualify for the Asia Cup!”
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