¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ set for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualifier in Qatar

List of the Saudi national team participating in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup in the Qatari capital, Doha (X/@cricketsaudi)
Short Url
  • ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ are familiar with their rivals after taking part alongside them all in T20 tournaments this year

Qualification for the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in India and Sri Lanka, is in full swing. From Nov. 19-28, Doha takes center stage for Asia Sub-Regional Qualifier Group B.

With seven nations taking part it looks set to be an exciting competition, with ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ, Bahrain, Bhutan, Cambodia, Thailand and the UAE joining hosts Qatar. The teams are competing for the last two places in the Asia-East Asia-Pacific regional final, to be held in Malaysia in August 2025.

Malaysia and Kuwait emerged successfully from the Asia Group A qualifier, while Samoa and Japan won the East Asia-Pacific A and East Asia-Pacific B qualifiers, respectively. Nepal, Oman and Papua New Guinea have already qualified by virtue of taking part in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

The seven teams competing for these last two places will play in a round robin league, with the top two teams in the table progressing to the next qualifier.

¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ are familiar with their rivals after taking part alongside them all in T20 tournaments this year. These matches were in either the Asia Cricket Council T20 Challenger Cup in Thailand or the ACC Premier Cup that followed in Nepal. In the Challenger Cup, ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ convincingly beat Bhutan, Thailand, Japan and Cambodia in Bangkok, the latter in the final. This maintained their excellent record in Thailand, where they won the ACC 50-over version in 2023.

¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s convincing qualification in February for the ACC T20 Premier Cup provided an opportunity for the team to test itself against strong opposition in Nepal. The bridge proved too large to gap, however, as only one match out of four played was won.

This ought not to be the case in the current Asia Group B qualifier in Qatar. The UAE are arguably favorite to win, sitting 16th in the ICC T20I men’s rankings. Closest to them are Bahrain (26), Qatar (28) and ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ (33). Behind them come Cambodia, ranked 42nd, Thailand in 59th and Bhutan in 77th. ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ have comfortably beaten each of them in the ACC T20 Challenger Cup so it is the matches against the three higher-ranking teams that are likely to prove crucial.

Three matches will be played each day for 10 days at either the West End Park International Cricket Stadium or the University Stadium in Doha from Nov. 19. ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s first match is against Bahrain, who are just ahead in the T20I rankings.

If the Saudi team can start their campaign with a victory, they will have a good chance of challenging for one of the top two spots in the table — and a place in the Asia-East Asia-Pacific regional final. From there, the dream is the 2026 T20 World Cup.