Photo Credit: Sydney Thunder
The teams for the HomeWorld Thunder Nation Cup have been selected and will battle it out this Sunday (November 12) at the Ollie Webb Reserve, Parramatta.
In a celebration of culture, cricket and community – teams drawn from Sydney Thunder’s territory honour cultural ties to their former homelands by playing one of the most popular sports in Australia, cricket.
The seven-over-a-side competition hosts six teams, representing: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The team that comes out on top will take a run straight into the final, whereas 2nd and 3rd will fight for the last spot in the closing game of the day.
The two successful sides will play as a curtain raiser to the KFC BBL|13 Sydney Thunder versus Perth Scorchers match on January 8.
Afghanistan: 33 – Hilal Tawakal, 56 – Salamn Tawakal, 34 – Rahmat Qurbani, 6 – Ziaulhaq Aziz ©, 21 – Modacer Momandi, 51 – Norman Tawakal, 48 – Fardeen Shinwari, 41 – Arsh Diwan
Bangladesh: 16 – Md Ausiqul Islam, 6 – Shaf B Sabbit ©, 3 – Al Shahid Mushrafi, 34 – S M Mirazul Hasan, 25 – Saifi Tadveen, 48 – Agnik Rodder, 41 – Ashiqur Rahman
India: 19 – Arun Chauhan ©, 31 – Vikrant Nehru, 32 – Arshdeep Singh, 1 – Ayush Arora, 38 – Karanbir Kahlon, 35 – Nygel Shah, 23 – Tejas Verma, 28 – Ravi Adabala, 37 – Daman Brar
Nepal – Yuvraj Mall, Vivek Devkota, Suman Gopali, Madan Lama, Aakash Pathak, Nitesh Thapa, Pravin Basnet, Kritan Tamrakar, Saheel Khan, Rahul Shrestha, Raazan Dangi
Pakistan: 13 – Sibghat Khan ©, 39 – Sajjad Qaiser, 27 – Asad Usman, 40 – Muhammad Kashif Naseem, 33 – Faisal Nasim, 47 – Adil Ahmed, 52 – Hasnain Sikandar, 46 – Huzaifa Ijaz
Sri Lanka: 16 – Sutha Senathipillay ©, 25 Anujan Nagendiram, 17 – Edurtshanan Thevarasan, 21 – Kritin Karthik, 38 – Thanusraj Yogeswaran, 12 – Tarik Viswasam, 8 – Angasan Muthulingam
Team Afghanistan’s captain, Ziaulhaq Aziz, said: “As a community we love taking part in the Thunder Nation Cup! It gives club cricketers a chance to play representative cricket in the name of their home nation.
“Afghan cricket has won many hearts around the world, especially during the Men’s World Cup. It has inspired so many youngsters and given them hope. We’ve seen the impact in the rise of Afghan cricket not only back home and here in Australia.
“Sport is a great tool in bringing communities together and celebrating their cultures and it’s something Sydney Thunder do very well. Cricket has given hope to the whole Afghan Nation, it’s a great source of happiness during tough times.”
Head of Sydney Thunder, Andrew Gilchrist, added: “We’re incredibly proud of this initiative, and to give the opportunity to communities within Western Sydney to play for their home nations.
“The competition gets bigger and more fierce every year and we can’t wait to see what the teams bring on Sunday.”
