Players, format, history - all you need to know about the Emerging Asia Cup

The fifth edition of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup has gone underway in Sri Lanka on Thursday (July 13), with the first edition of the tournament being played in 2013. 

In a U-23 tournament then, India defeated Pakistan by nine wickets in Singapore. The tournament was played annually between 2017 and 2019. It was won twice by Sri Lanka (2017 and 2018) and Pakistan in 2019. 

Where is it happening?

The fifth edition of the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup has kicked off on July 13 in Colombo. Sri Lanka A defeated Bangladesh A by 48 runs while Afghanistan A trumped Oman A by 72 runs. 

India A will play their first on July 14, clashing against the UAE A at the Sinhalese Sports Club, with the match starting at 10AM local time. 

Which teams are participating?

The tournament includes the A teams from the five Asian Full Member boards - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Nepal, UAE and Oman, though are taking part with their senior sides. 

Nepal, UAE and Oman were the top three sides in the 2023 ACC Men’s Premier Cup played in April and May this year. All these three teams were also part of the recently concluded ICC Men’s World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. 

What is the format?

The first four editions were played in a U23 format. However, there is no age restriction in terms of player selections this year. All the 15 members in India’s squad are aged 23 or younger. Afghanistan, however, have a veteran in Noor Ali Zadran in their squad. Noor, 35-year old, is the uncle of Ibrahim Zadran and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, both of whom are mainstays in Afghanistan’s senior side. Noor has played 51 ODIs and 20 T20Is for Afghanistan. 

The matches are played in 50-over format and the numbers in the competition will reflect on player’s List-A record. 

What is the format of the tournament? 

The eight teams are divided into two groups of four teams each. Every team will play the other three sides once in the group stage. 

The top two sides in both groups will advance to the semi-finals. Both knock out games are scheduled on July 21. The final will be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on July 23. 

Who is playing for India? 

India will be led by Yash Dhull, the captain of the Indian team that won the 2022 U19 World Cup. Abhishek Sharma, the all-rounder from Punjab and a promising India prospect, will be Dhull’s deputy. 

Other prominent names are Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Prabhsimran Singh, Rajvardhan Hangargekar. 

India’s squad: Yash Dhull ( c ), Abhishek Sharma (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Nikin Jose, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Riyan Parag, Nishant Sindhu, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Manav Suthar, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Harshit Rana, Akash Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rajvardhan Hangargekar

Standby players: Harsh Dubey, Nehal Wadhera, Snell Patel, Mohit Redkar

Who are the other players to look out for? 

Sri Lanka: Dunith Wellalage, Avishka Fernando, Ashen Bandara, Pramod Madushan

Pakistan: Mohammad Haris, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Saim Ayub

Afghanistan: Ihsanullah Janat, Izharulhaq Naveed

Bangladesh: Saif Hassan, Soumya Sarkar, Mahedi Hasan

Where can we watch these games? 

In India, you can follow the games on Fancode and Star Sports.