The five youngest players competing in the 2023 Asia Cup

The hybrid format of the Asia Cup 2023 will start on August 30, 2023, with four games taking place in Pakistan and the remaining matches being held in Sri Lanka. In terms of the tournament’s groupings, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are in Group B, while India, Pakistan, and Nepal are in Group A.

There will be a total of 13 games, including a final, six Super 4 games, and six league games. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were placed as B1 and B2, while Pakistan and India were seeded as A1 and A2. Nepal and Afghanistan would replace Pakistan or India in Group A and Sri Lanka or Bangladesh in Group B, respectively, if they were to advance to the Super Four stage.

Many well-known players will compete in the Asia Cup 2023, but there will also be some emerging players eager to make their mark in a multi-nation competition where there will be fierce competition between teams from the same region.

In the same line, here are the five newest players competing in the 2023 Asia Cup:

1. Shubman Gill, age 23

Shubman Gill, the ODI opening batsman for India, is already renowned for his impeccable timing and propensity for accelerating his innings. The youthful player, who made his ODI debut in 2019, has consistently displayed strong performance. Everyone is impressed by his batting style.

In 27 ODI games, Gill has scored 1437 runs at an average of 62.47, including 4 hundreds and 6 half-centuries. When he accomplished the feat against New Zealand earlier this year, he made history by becoming the ODI format’s youngest batsman to ever score a double century. He is a terrific player of both pace and spin, and his temperament is something that stands out, so the surfaces in Sri Lanka will be suitable for his style of batting.

2. Shoriful Islam (22 years)

The bowler from the Bangladeshi team to watch out for is Shoriful Islam. The 22-year-old made his international debut in 2021 and has since represented Bangladesh in 7 Tests, 17 ODIs, and 31 T20 Internationals.

The left-arm pacer, who has taken 26 wickets in ODIs to far with a high of 4/21 and an economy of 5.57, is able to get strong speed in the air and off the pitch. All attention will be on Shoriful despite the presence of Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman because he is anticipated to flourish on favorable fields in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

3. Tilak Varma (20 years)

Given that he has yet to play an ODI, Tilak Varma’s inclusion in the Indian squad for the Asia Cup 2023 was unexpected. He only recently made his T20I debut on the West Indies trip, and he immediately made an impression with a fifty and a score of 49*, finishing with the most runs over the five T20I matches.

He is certain to wow with his skill at playing both spin and pace, as well as for being aggressive with the bat, if he is able to make his debut for India in the Asia Cup 2023.

4. Naseem Shah (20 years)

There is no need to introduce Naseem Shah because the Pakistani pacer has already won over admirers with his ability to produce some real pace as well as his propensity for batting down the order to end games. Shah, 20, has taken 25 wickets in 10 innings of Odis so far, with a best of 5/33 and an economy of 4.63. His bowling and batting contributed significantly to Pakistan’s recent 3-0 ODI series victory against Afghanistan, which helped the Men in Green move up to the top spot in the rankings.

He will also treasure the memory of playing in Sri Lanka, when he represented Colombo Strikers in the LPL 2023 and participated in three one-day international matches against Afghanistan.

5. Noor Ahmad (18 years)

Noor Ahmad, an 18-year-old spinner from Afghanistan, recently competed for Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023 and dazzled the globe with his skills. He just recently made his international debut and has taken 6 wickets in ODIs and T20Is combined.

However, he has a ton of T20 experience, having participated in 71 games and taken 74 wickets, with a best of 4/10. He’ll be one of the players to keep an eye on because he’ll be backing up Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman on Sri Lanka’s turning wickets.