There has been steady progress in terms of T20 cricket performances for both Kuwait and Maldives men’s national squads in the past year or so; however, lack of consistency in sustaining that has led to minimal success on the field for them. Both countries would however like to correct that in the upcoming ACC Western Region T20 tournament in Oman from Feb 21st – 28th, 2020.
Both countries participated in the 2019 standalone edition of Western Region T20 in Oman and while Kuwait went onto register two wins in the tournament, Maldives endured a disappointing campaign, having lost all their four group stage matches. This time around the competition will be lot more tougher, as both Oman and UAE will be part of the event, which serves as a qualification pathway towards 2020 ACC Asia Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia in Sep 2020. Oman, Qatar, Maldives and Bahrain are placed in one group, while the other group consists of United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran. All countries will play each other in a single round-robin group stage format, before the top two teams advance to the semi-final stage of the tournament.
Kuwait have made progress in 2019, with the national squad featuring in the 2020 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Regional Finals in Singapore, where they won a solitary match against Qatar. Their U19 squad also got the opportunity to make their maiden apperance in the ACC U19 Asia Cup in 2019. In another landmark moment in Kuwait Cricket history, the Board announced central contracts for 20 players in 2020, who would make up the core of the national squad for the comig year.
Maldives registered their maiden T20I win in 2019 during the T20I Tri-series in Malaysia, where they won a match against Thailand. All matches in the tournament will be live streamed on Asian Cricket Counci’s facebook page and YouTube channel.
Kuwait Squad
Mohammad Aslam (Captain), Aphsal Ashraf, Bilal Tahir, Diju Xavier, Ilyas Ahmad, Muhammad Ameen, Muhammad Ansar, Muhammad Kashif, Naveed Fakhr, Pradeep Wasantha, Ravija De Silva, Sayed Monib, Shiraz Khan and Usman Gani
Top Players in Western Region T20 in Oman in Jan 2019
Ravija De Silva (177 runs in 4 innings), Muhammad Kashif (69 runs and 4 wickets in 3 innings) and Pradeep Wasantha (3 wickets in 3 innings)
Maldives Squad
Ibrahim Hassan, Rasheed R, Mohamed I S, Ahmed I Raid, Tharaka Ruwan Kumara, Leem Shafeeq, Mututanthrige Nilantha, Chandana Amrawickram Liyanage, Ali Imaan Ahmed, Ali Yaneeu Ahmed, Ismail Nazuwan Badheeu, Mauroof Ameel Ahmed, Hassan Haziq Rasheed, Adam Nasif Umar, Ibrahim Rizan, Rishwan Mohamed and Azzam Mohamed (Captain)
Top Players in Western Region T20 in Oman in Jan 2019
Rishwan Mohamed (147 runs in 4 matches), Adam Nasif Umar (58 runs in 4 innings), Hassan Haziq Rasheed (52 runs in 4 innings), Ibrahim Hassan (9 wickets in 4 innings) and Mauroof Ameel Ahmed (31 runs and 3 wickets in 4 innings)
