Saudi Arabia is gunning for a berth in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2012 by participating in the ACC T20 Elite Cup at Kathmandu, Nepal, from Dec. 3. Ten countries from the Elite Group of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) are vying for the championship as well as the four coveted berths for the World Cup Qualifying Championship. The teams are divided into two groups. Pool A: Afghanistan, Malaysia, Oman, Bhutan, Maldives. Pool B: Nepal, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia. The seventh-ranked Saudi Arabia will be playing its first match against Kuwait on Dec, 4. The top four teams (semifinalists) of ACC T20 Elite Cup, will qualify for the ICC World Cup T20 qualifiers to be played in March 2012 in Dubai. They will join 8 teams from other regions. First six teams from 12 will qualify for the ICC World Cup 2012 to be held in Sri Lanka in September-October 2012. Twenty-four probable players were selected from the existing affiliated associations and a final 14 squad was announced by Nadeem Nadwi, CEO of Saudi Cricket Center (SCC). The squad: Shoaib Ali (captain), Kashif Mehar (vice captain), Khawer Suhail, Rizwan Qayyum, Irfan Azhar Farooqi, Hammad Saeed, Kashef Shafiq, Babar Hussain (wicketkeeper), Abdullah Essa, Abid Naseem, Fahim Afrad, Hassan Malike, M. Zaheer Sulehri and Waqas Akram. The team was lucky to get the valuable services of Mohammad Iqbal Sikander, Development Officer of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) for ten days. A World Cup winning player of Pakistan (1992 in Australia) Sikander supervised physical fitness training in the morning and batting and bowling practices in the evening at the Hala School Cricket Academy in Jeddah. Sikander, who has been following the progress of SCC very closely ever since its inception has high hopes about the present team. “The team is very good. Its batting depth and spinners are real plus despite their lack of experience of turf wickets,” said Sikander, who himself was a wily spinner in his heydays. The team will be leaving for Kathmandu Monday.
