After four years without international tournaments, the national men’s cricket team will participate in the ICC World Cricket League Division 1, for Asia region, next month.
The league will be played in Thailand.
The upcoming tournament is a much needed experience for the young national team. Placed along with heavy weights such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait, preparations and selection of players for the national team started with the district championship, last winter.
“I think we have prepared well because we had a one week training camp in Gelegphu. After that, we went to Assam to play few matches which were really good for us because we are young side and lots of youth who are into the team,” said the Captain of Bhutan National Cricket Team, Jigme Singye.
Despite the youthful squad, the head coach is confident about how the players are honing cricketing skills and tactics.
“It all depends on practice, it’s all about how you discipline your approach, commitment and this is something that I am putting in their mind and putting them into practice thoroughly. And more over this time, we are working on tactical areas and I think these boys are doing well,” told the Head Coach, Bhutan Cricket Council Board, Damber S.Gurung to BBS.
After the dissolution of the Asian Cricket Council in 2015, development of cricket in Bhutan took a huge blow.
International tournaments dried off and funding for domestic competitions took a heavy punch as well.
The last tournament, that Bhutan’s cricket team took part in was the ACC Elite Cup in 2013.
“After the dissolution of ACC, there was really a huge impact for a country like ours. In the past years, we were getting a tournament a year but now even that has been stopped. So, as a country and as a participating nation in the cricketing department in the world, we have lacked that tournament experience,” added the Captain of Bhutan National Cricket Team, Jigme Singye.
The upcoming tournament will be 50 overs format. The winner will advance to the ICC World Cricket League Division 5.
