The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s World T20 Qualifier is an eight-team tournament which consist of bottom two sides from the ICC Women’s World Cup 2016 in the form of Bangladesh and Ireland and will be joined by one qualifying team from the Africa Region qualifiers and East-Asia Pacific region and two each from Asia Region and Europe/America region. Scotland and Netherlands have qualified from the Europe/America region, while Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe from the East Asia Pacific and Africa region respectively are through to the next stage of the qualification.
The Women’s World T20, 2018, Asia Qualifiers is slated to take place from November 20 to 27 in Thailand. Along with the host Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Nepal, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Malaysia are all set to take part in this tournament in a double round robin format which will be an intriguing battle.
Let’s take a look at all the six teams taking part in this competition:
1. Nepal:
The experienced Rubina Chhetry Belbashi will be leading the Nepal team in this competition and the left-handed all-rounder Sita Rana Magar has been named as her deputy. Sita is an important member of the squad as she possesses the capability of maneuvering the field and score some quick runs and has the capability of picking up wickets with her left-arm medium fast bowling. The off-spin of Karuna Bhandari can prove to be decisive for Nepal in going ahead from the group. Nepal has few players who have the experience of playing in this highest tournament before which will be a key feature of this Nepal team.
Full Squad: Rubina Chhetry Belbashi (Captain), Sita Rana Magar (Vice Captain), Jyoti Pandey, Sarita Magar, Nery Thapa, Roma Thapa, Indu Barma, Karuna Bhandari, Sonu Khadka, Laxmi Chaudhary, Ritu Kanoujiya, Sabnam Rai, Kajal Shrestha and Sangita Rai.
Reserves: Kabita Kunwar, Nitu Bhandari, Rekha Rawal.
2. Hong Kong:
The Hong Kong side will do a six-day preparatory camp in India before flying to Bangkok for the Asia Qualifiers. The team has witnessed only one change from the squad of East Asia Cup as Keene Gil misses out due to her work commitments as she is replaced by Marina Lamplough. “Marina has got an excellent chance to again stake her claim to be back in the starting 11. She knows that over the next 4 weeks she will need to put in the hard yards,” the head of the selection committee added. Mariko Hill will lead the Hong Kong as they will try to push their claims hard as one of the possible contenders for the top two spots. The Hong Kong captain has been an important member in this Hong Kong set up and she will be keen to lead the side from the front.
Squad: Mariko Hill,(Captain), Kary Chan,( Vice Captain), Yasmin Daswani, Pull To, Shenzhen Shahzad, Jenefer Davies, Natural Yip, Annie Ho, Bella Poon, Chan Sau Ha, Marina Lamplough, Emma Lai, Ruchi Venketesh, Betty Chan.
3. United Arab Emirates:
The United Arab Emirates Women’s team was oozing with confidence after their impressive show at the Indoor Cricket World Cup as they left their country for Thailand for their first ever ICC tournament. However, nothing much is expected out of them, the head of their selection committee Waleed Bukhatir admitted that they have specific plan and goal in their vision which is to qualify for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2018. Humaira Tasneem, who will lead the UAE side in this big stage, said that their coach has advised to be numb and focus on the game. It will be interesting to see how UAE shapes up in their first ever ICC tournament.
Squad; Humaira Tasneem (C), Chamani Seneviratne, Chaya Mughal, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Kavisha Kumari, Namita Dsouza, Natasha Michael, Nisha Ali, Priyanjali Jain, Roopa Nagraj, Samiya Salim, Subha Srinivasan and Udeni Kuruppuarachchi.
4. Thailand:
The host of the tournament Thailand will be one of the main contenders for the top two spots which will go through final rounds of the qualifiers before marching on to the mega event. Thailand has recently emerged as the gold medal winners in the 29th SEA Games that took place in Malaysia earlier this year. They will try to bank on the home conditions and play some good quality cricket. Sornnarin Tippoch will lead the confident Thailand side and has some quality players on her side who can win matches single-handedly.
Squad: Sornnarin Tippoch (Captain), Suleeporn Laomi, Rosnanee Kanoh, Soraya Lateh, Sirintra Saengsakaorat, Ratnaporn Pudunglerd, Salnameen Saenya, Onnicha Kamchomphu, Natthakan Chantham, Nattya Boochantham, Nareumol Chaiwai, Nannapat Khonchroenkal, Chanida Sutthiruang, Rattana Sangsoma.
5. Malaysia:
The Malaysian Women’s team had a good show in the 29th SEA Games; however, they had to settle for the bronze medal. Malaysia will have to put up a spirited performance in order to turn things into their favor. Winifred Anne Duraisingam will have to play a crucial role if her team has to taste any kind success from this tournament.
Squad
Emylia Eliani Md Rahim, Winifred Anne Duraisingam, Nur Nadhirah Mohd Nasaruddin, Yusrina Yaakop, Afiqah Fatin Farhana Azman, Christina Nina Baret, Intan Jamahidayu Jaafar, Mas Elysa Yasmin Zulkifli, Arianna Natasya Benn Rakquidean, Janadiah Halim, Nur Syazwina Hanim Abdul Halim, Wan Julia Wan Mohd Rosli, Zayani Syamimi Zainuddin, Aina Najwa Abdul Rahman
Coach : Thushara Prabath Kodikara
6. China:
China, who made their appearance in the international circuit a few years back, will bank on their captain Huang Zhuo who has been a brilliant performer for the side. The right-handed batswoman is in good knick and will like to play some big knocks to gain international attention. Nothing much is expected out of this newly shaped China team, however; they will try and cause few upset in the tournament.
Squad:
Haoyue Li (C), Xiangxue Zhang, Zhongyuan Lyu, Qing Yi, Mingyue Zhu, Caiyun Zhou, Lili Han, Louwanyu Wang, Yingying Li, Ying Zhou, Fengfeng Song, Yanling Zhang, Chan Zhang, Xiaonan Liu
Coach : Ge Tao