Asia's leading young cricketers will meet in Dubai this week as the continent’s best eight teams fight it out for the Under-19 Asia Cup.
The age-group version of the biggest fixture in cricket will take place on Sunday when India and Pakistan meet at the ICC Academy. The two cricket giants are in a group with Nepal and Afghanistan.
The UAE are in the other group. They will be eyeing a place in the semi-finals, which will be the prize for finishing in the top two in a section which also includes Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Japan.
Who to watch for the UAE
Aayan Khan, Aryansh Sharma and Ethan D’Souza have all played for the UAE men’s team, with varying levels of regularity. They will form the core of the starting XI in the U19 Asia Cup.
There is plenty of talent beyond that, too. Tanish Suri was part of the extended tour party for the UAE at the T20 World Cup Qualifier in Nepal last month.
And Shrey Sethi should have few worries about facing top-tier opposition. The Dubai-based wicketkeeper batter regularly plays age-group cricket in Delhi, where he has a double century to his name.
Captain marvel
It is difficult to believe Aayan is still eligible to play U19s cricket given he debuted for the senior UAE team at the T20 World Cup last year.
The left-arm spinner has played 46 senior internationals in the time since, won two franchise competitions, and is a gold listed player in the Pakistan Super League draft later this month.
No Associate Clasico
The UAE have built up quite the rivalry with Nepal in the recent past. They have taken turns to deprive each other places at major competitions, both in age-group and senior cricket, and the women’s game, too.
However, there will be no repeat of the ‘Associate Clasico’ in this competition – not unless they each make it through to the knockout phase.
Pools
A: Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Pakistan
B: Bangladesh, Japan, Sri Lanka, UAE
Fixtures
All matches start at 9.30am
All matches are played at the ICC Academy, other than the final, which will be played at Dubai International Stadium
December 8: India v Afghanistan, Pakistan v Nepal
December 9: Bangladesh v UAE, Sri Lanka v Japan
December 10: India v Pakistan, Afghanistan v Nepal
December 11: Sri Lanka v UAE, Bangladesh v Japan
December 12: Pakistan v Afghanistan, India vs Nepal
December 13: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, UAE v Japan
December 15: semi-finals
December 17: final
Broadcast
The matches will be streamed live on the Asian Cricket Council's YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@AsianCricketCouncilTV)
UAE squad
Aayan Afzal Khan (captain), Akshat Rai, Ammar Badami, Aryansh Sharma, Ayman Ahamed, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Hardik Pai, Harit Shetty, Harshit Seth, Maroof Merchant, Omid Rehman, Shrey Sethi, Tanish Suri, Yayin Rai.
