The Hong Kong U-19s have just set off for Malaysia in preparation for the U-19 Asia Cup, taking part in Bangladesh later this month

Organised by the Asian Cricket Council, the 2018 U-19 Asia Cup will feature 8 nations, and will run from 29^th September until 7^thOctober.

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and UAE are the other 7 nations taking part in this tournament. Nepal and UAE are the only two other Associate nations taking part, and Hong Kong is the only nation taking part whose senior men’s team does not currently have ODI status.

The format for this tournament is two groups of 4 teams, with each team playing each other once in a round robin stage. The top 2 teams from each group will then go through to the Semi Finals. Hong Kong has been drawn in Group B, alongside Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Hong Kong play all three of their group games in Chittagong. Their schedule is as follows:

Sat 29^th Sep - Game 1 vs Pakistan @ M.A.Aziz Stadium
Sun 30^th Sep – Game 2 vs Sri Lanka @ ZAC Stadium
Tue 2^nd Oct – Game 3 vs Bangladesh @ ZAC Stadium

The Semi-Finals are scheduled to take place on 4^th and 5^th October at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, with the final being held at the same venue on 7^th October.

The squad was announced earlier this month, and is as follows:

1. Kabir Sodhi (captain and wicketkeeper) – (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
2. Wajid Mohammad – (Overseas – HSBC & Kent CCC)
3. Aarush Bhagwat – (Kowloon Cricket Club)
4. Nasrullah Rana – (Pakistan Association Cricket Club)
5. Adit Gorawara – (Kowloon Cricket Club)
6. Dhananjay Rao – (Diasqua Little Sai Wan Cricket Club)
7. Harpreet Singh – (Kowloon Cricket Club)
8. Raunaq Kapur – (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
9. Kalhan Marc Challu – (Kowloon Cricket Club)
10. Daniyal Butt – (USRC/MCC)
11. Mohammad Hassan – (Diasqua Little Sai Wan Cricket Club)
12. Wajib Shafi – (Pakistan Association Cricket Club)
13. Mohammad Hassan Khan – (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
14. Haroon Arshad – (Diasqua Little Sai Wan Cricket Club)
15. Vikas Sharma – (Kowloon Cricket Club)

Accompany the side will be Mark Farmer as Head Coach, Waqas Barkat as Assistant Coach, Ajaz Khan as Team Manager, and Max Yeung as Physio