LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s cricket team will be looking to use this week’s ACC Challenger Cup event in Thailand to take the game in the Kingdom to the “next level,” batter Abdul Waheed told Arab News.
The Greens will be aiming to defend their Challenger Cup title, which they won in 2023, and then improve on their performance in the next stage of Asia Cup qualification in the ACC Premier Cup in April.
Having won the Challenger Cup and progressed to last year’s second-stage Premier Cup, which acts as the final qualification stage for the Asia Cup, Saudi Arabia only managed one win and missed out on progressing to the main tournament draw.
However, the coaches and players are confident they can go one better in 2024, qualify for next year’s Asia Cup proper and really put Saudi cricket on the map.
Waheed said: “We’ve been training and working on our fitness for the past two months, and we feel we’re well prepared for this tournament and for the next level as well. That’s our main aim, getting Saudi cricket to that next level.”
He added that winning last year’s Challenger Cup tournament had given the team motivation and the right mindset to repeat the feat.
He said: “Our coaching staff and team management work really hard to give us as many benefits as possible, which gives our boys more confidence and they’re more motivated.”
Captain Hisham Shaikh says the team cannot rest on their laurels and need to treat this year’s tournament as a clean slate.
He told Arab News: “We won the tournament last time around, but this is a new tournament, everything is new. We can’t rely on history or what happened in the past.
“We will approach this challenge the same way as we approached it last time around. The boys have been practicing well, so we’re hopeful of a great result again.”
Head coach Kabir Khan said a change in format at this year’s tournament from 50-over cricket to 20 overs would not make a difference to the team’s approach, and that they would work toward improving their record in the second-stage Premier Cup.
He said: “We are fully prepared (for the tournament), and inshallah we will qualify for the Premier Cup.
“We did it last year, but last year the format was 50-over cricket, this year it’s 20 overs. We only had one win in the Premier Cup, but this year we really want to qualify for the Asia Cup.
“We’re a very good, balanced team, and we hope to put on a very good show, with the players putting in (good) performances. The way they are, the way we’ve prepared, there’s a good chance we can make it.”
Team coach Dulip Samarasekera said the team were full of “talent, with lots of skill,” which he hoped would make the difference in Thailand and enable them to “bring glory to Saudi Arabia.”
