Qatar national cricket team players and officials pose for a photograph ahead of their tour to Thailand.
Qatar's cricket team will be aiming to top the group and advance to the next stage of competitions when they arrive in Thailand for the ICC World Cricket League Division I qualifiers later this month.
Qatar cricketers and team officials leave for Bangkok on April 16, a week ahead of the April 22-May 1 tournament that has attracted teams from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldives, Bahrain, Bhutan, Iran, China and Myanmar besides hosts Thailand.
The Qatari delegation will be headed by Eisa Ali Ghanem, the Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar Cricket Association (QCA). Manzoor Ahmad, Operations Manager, will also accompany the national squad.
Abdul Rahman is the head coach while Mohammad Jahangir will go with the squad as the team trainer while Shamas will perform his duties as assistant coach.
Ali Ghanem said yesterday: "We have played a number of practice matches to fine-tune our preparations for the upcoming important event. The players are fit and look primed to put in their best. We hope to do well, win the tournament and advance to the Division 5."
"It is a moment of pride for us as Qatar has been invited by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to participate in the ICC 2017 World Cricket League Division 1 qualifier," Ali Ghanem said.
“An encouraging performance of the Qatar National Team may improve the rankings and we’re quite optimistic about having a good showing in the ICC tournament,” he added.
Ahmed said the Qatar squad was a blend of youth and experience.
"We are confident of a good show in Thailand. I am saying that because we have a quality bunch of players who have a lot of experience," Ahmed said yesterday.
"We will be playing our final practice match on April 9 against a select XI comprised of players from HBKS and Galfar Al Misnad teams. It will be a good way of ending our long preparations for this tournament," Ahmed told The Peninsula.
"As you can see we have finalised our squad of 14 players. We expect a good fight against Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, two teams who we have played against in the past," Ahmed said. "But like I said, we have prepared really well," he added.
"I am very confident we will win our key games and qualify for the next stage of this competition which is Division 5," Ahmed said.
"Among the key players in our squad is Inam Ul Haq who has experience of playing first-class cricket in Pakistan. He is a batting all-rounder with good credentials of leading the side," Ahmed said.
"Then we have Taimoor Sajjad who is a quality all-rounder. He has been with QCA teams since his Under-13 days. He has played many ICC events in his young career," Ahmed informed.
"I would say we have high hopes of Muhammad Tanveer. He could be the key for us. Overall our strength is we have power-hitters with batting all-rounders down the order," Ahmed said.
"Mohammed Rizlan is another player who keeps wickets and can open the batting. He is a very useful hand for us," Ahmed said. "I would say it was fairly tough for us to see who was going to be picked who would get dropped," Ahmed said.
The final practice match for Qatar will be played at the Asian Town Cricket Stadium, Industrial Area, with starting time fixed for 5:00pm, Ahmed informed.
The match is a 50-over-a-side contest and many cricket board members are expected to witness the game.
"Two warm-up matches have been arranged for Qatar against Thailand (18th April) and Bhutan (20th April), prior to the start the tournament," Ahmed said.
