I have been granted a remarkable opportunity to cover a very special event. Thanks to Ms. Ghazal Khan, I will be writing articles about the 2023 Asia Cup of Wheelchair Cricket. The tournament is organized by the International Council of Wheelchair Cricket and sponsored by Interloop and the Pakistan Cricket Board. Officially, it is named the Interloop T-20 Asia Cup, which will be co-organized by Pakistan and Nepal. The games can be watched live on Action Sports HD 1, a Nepali sports channel.
The teams that will take part in this event are India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. In the previous iteration of the tournament, which was also held in Nepal, Pakistan emerged victorious in 2019 against India. This time, the games will be played at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kathmandu, Nepal, on the same grounds as before. It is amazing that so many specially-abled athletes can look past their impairments and represent their countries on a global platform! Kudos to these extraordinary athletes from all the participating teams. Regardless of the ultimate winner, those who have reached this stage are all champions in life!
Updated Schedule
Initially, the games were set to begin at 9:30 AM NPT (Nepal Time) and 2:00 PM NPT. However, the schedule had to be adjusted due to incessant rain and two recent earthquakes in Nepal… There were supposed to be two games played every day from October 4th to 8th (10 total), with a final on October 9th. However, in the new schedule, only one game will be played on October 4th, and two games will be played each day from the 5th to the 9th. This means that a game will be played before the final on the last day as well.
Photo Cred: Ghazal Khan
- 4th October- Nepal vs. Sri Lanka at 1:00 PM NPT
- 5th October- India vs. Bangladesh at 9:30 AM NPT
- 5th October- Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka at 2:00 PM NPT
- 6th October- Nepal vs. India at 9:30 AM NPT
- 6th October- Pakistan vs. Bangladesh at 2:00 PM NPT
- 7th October- Sri Lanka vs. India at 9:30 AM NPT
- 7th October- Pakistan vs. Nepal at 2:00 PM NPT
- 8th October- Sri Lanka vs. Bangladesh at 9:30 AM NPT
- 8th October- Pakistan vs. India at 2:00 PM NPT
- 9th October- Nepal vs. Bangladesh at 8:30 AM NPT
- 9th October- Final at 1:00 PM NPT
Squads
Bangladesh: Md Mohasin, Md Ripon Uddin, Sazzad Hossain, Robin Gain, Md Liton Mridha, Sopon Daowan, Md Mohidul Islam, Md Morshed Alam, Ahadul Islam, Uzzal Bairagi, Md Rajon Hossain, Rony Gain, Md. Salman Ibne Hasan.
Photo Cred: Ghazal Khan
India: Ramesh Sartape (captain), Parshuram Desale, Ramavath Koteshwar, Manu Singh, Shivaji Pawar, Tejpal Yadav, D. Suresh, Manoj Sansarkar, Pankaj Paruthi, Manoj Parmar, Moin Khan, Vikas Lamba, Santosh Kokare, Lalit Pathak, Mohd Adil, Shahid Ansari, Sunil Choudhary, Shailendra Yadav, Praveen Kumar, Ramchandran D., Anwar Shaikh, Kamlakar Karale. Head Coach- Manish Sharma.
Photo Cred: Ghazal Khan
Nepal: (to be announced at a later time).
Pakistan: Muhammad Zeeshan (captain), Imran Amin, Sajid Ali Abbasi, Muhammad Faiz, Muhammad Latif, Ahmed Yar, Mozan Nawaz (wicket-keeper), Mohsin Thabel, Umargul, Muhammad Adnan, Muhammad Shahid, Misal Khan, Asif Nadeem, Zulfiqar Swati, Khalid Shah.
Photo Cred: Ghazal Khan
Sri Lanka: Thusitha Mahindasiri (captain), Sadun Wasana, Jayathilaka Banda, Sumith Karunarathne, Nalinda Basnayaka, Priyantha Kumara, Sarath Galahitiyawa, Pushpa Kumara, Roshan Chandimal, Sujeewa Deshapriya, Manjula Dimuth, Mohamed Ali, Chanaka Pushpa Kumara, Isuru Udayanga, Mohamed Hamith.
Photo Cred: Ghazal Khan
