Bahrain will take on hosts Qatar in their opening game of the inaugural, six-team Gulf Cricket T20I Championship 2023 at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium in Doha tonight.
The kingdom’s team suffered a blow last Wednesday when star batter Sohail Ahmed was ruled out of the tournament after injuring his right hand while attempting to take a catch during a friendly match.
But head coach Bhaskar Pillai is confident that the rest of his batters will step up their game in Ahmed’s absence.
Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE are the other teams in the tournament which runs until September 24.
Bahrain and Qatar have met five times in T20Is with the kingdom’s team winning three games and the current hosts triumphing once and one fixture being washed out.
Kuwait will be Bahrain’s next opponents at the same venue tomorrow with a clash against Saudi Arabia scheduled for Monday followed by a game against Oman the very next day.
Bahrain’s last league match is against the UAE next Friday.
Luckily for the kingdom’s team, their first four matches will be played at night with only the last game scheduled for an afternoon start at 4pm.
The tournament will see two games being played on each match day.
Tonight’s game will start at 8.30pm, preceded by the first game of the tournament between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia which will begin at 4pm.
&uuid=(email))