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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

SEVEN of the 10 countries set to take part in the upcoming 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier to be held in Zimbabwe have named their squads, setting the stage for what promises to be an exciting month of competitive cricket.

The tournament will take place in Harare and Bulawayo between June 18 and July 9, with only two spots available for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India later in the year. 

Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, USA and two-time champions West Indies have already named their squads and should be trooping into the country in the next few days. 

Hosts Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and UAE are also expected to finalise their squads. 

The Chevrons had a series of preparatory cricket games against the visiting Pakistan A side that ended at the weekend, with some of the senior players like Craig Ervine, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara, leading from the front,

All-rounder Sikandar Raza joined the team for the last two games after returning from the lucrative Indian Premier League. Most of the players that had struggled with injuries had also returned, providing coach Dave Houghton and the selectors with a bigger pool to pick their squad. 

Zimbabwe and the two-time champions West Indies headline Group A, which also has the Netherlands, USA and minnows Nepal. 

Sri Lanka, who won the World Cup in 1996 and were runners up in 2007 and 2011, are favourites in Group B which also has Ireland, Scotland, Oman and UAE. 

Hosts Zimbabwe will get the ball rolling on the opening match day at Harare Sports Club against Nepal, who are aiming to qualify for the Men’s Cricket World Cup for the first time. 

Two-time Men’s Cricket World Cup champions West Indies will also be in action on the same day against neighbours USA at Takashinga Cricket Club.

Zimbabwe will play West Indies in the last hurdle for the Super Six stage of the World Cup Qualifier which promises fireworks across venues in Harare and Bulawayo next month. 

Group B commences on June 19 in Bulawayo with Sri Lanka facing the UAE at Queen’s Sports Club, while in the other match at Bulawayo Athletic Club, Ireland will face off against Oman. 

This is the second time Zimbabwe has been granted the rights by the ICC to play the Qualifier on home soil, following the successful hosting of a similar event in 2018. 

Queen’s Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club in Bulawayo, Harare Sports Club and Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare will share 34 matches between them, with Harare Sports Club staging the final on July 9. 

Old Hararians Cricket Club will also host warm-up fixtures. 

The 10 teams taking part in the qualifier are split into two groups of five teams. 

Each match will be high stakes, with teams contesting for two places at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India that gives them nine guaranteed matches at cricket’s ODI global show-piece. 

Each side will play the other teams in their group once with the top three from each group progressing to the Super Six stage. In the Super Six, they will play the sides they did not meet in the group stage. 

All points won in the group stage will be carried over to the Super Six stage apart from those gained against the teams that fail to make it to the Super Six stage. The finalists will both progress to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

Squads:

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.

Nepal: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Gyanendra Malla, Kushal Malla, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulsan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Bhim Sharki, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratish JC, Arjun Saud, Kishor Mahato

Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c), Max O’Dowd, Logan van Beek, Vikram Singh, Aryan Dutt, Viv Kingma, Bas de Leede, Noah Croes, Ryan Klein, Teja Nidamanuru, Wesley Barresi, Shariz Ahmad, Clayton Floyd, Michael Levitt, Saqib Zulfiqar.

Oman: Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Aqib Ilyas (vc), Jatinder Singh, Kashyap Prajapati, Shoaib Khan, Mohammed Nadeem, Sandeep Goud, Ayaan Khan, Suraj Kumar, Adeel Shafique, Naseem Khushi, Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Jay Odedra, Samay Shrivastav, Rafiullah

Scotland: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Alasdair Evans, Chris Greaves, Jack Jarvis, Michael Leask, Tom Mackintosh, Chris McBride, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Adrian Neill, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt

USA: Monank Patel (c), Aaron Jones (vc), Abhishek Paradkar, Ali Khan, Gajanand Singh, Jasdeep Singh, Kyle Philip,Nisarg Patel, Nostush Kenjige, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shayan Jahangir, Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Usman Rafiq

West Indies: Shai Hope (c), Rovman Powell (vc), Shamarh Brooks, Yannic Cariah, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd

Sri Lanka: Squad yet to be announced

UAE: Squad yet to be announced

Zimbabwe: Squad yet to be announced