ACC Men's Premier Cup
This article is about the cricket tournament which has evolved from the former ACC Trophy. For the tournament which was run between 2004 and 2007 and was also known as ACC Premier League later, see ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament.
The ACC Men's Premier Cup, previously the ACC Premier League, is the One Day International and Limited-overs (50 overs) international cricket tournament run by the Asian Cricket Council and contested in a league system. This is a part of the qualification pathway towards the Asia Cup. It used to evolve from the former ACC Trophy Elite cricket competition,[1] played under three divisions. The first tournament was held in Malaysia in May 2014.
However, after first edition of Premier and Elite tournament, ACC reformed the tournament structure into regional, rather than divisional basis.
2014 ACC Premier League[edit]
The first tournament was held in Malaysia between 1–7 May 2014. Afghanistan won the tournament. The top four teams, Afghanistan, UAE, Nepal and Oman qualified for the 2014 ACC Championship.
| Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nepal | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +1.062 |
 United Arab Emirates | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +0.214 |
 Afghanistan | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.024 |
 Oman | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.082 |
 Hong Kong | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.132 |
 Malaysia | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.951 |
2014 ACC Elite League[edit]
The first tournament of second division ACC Premier League was held in Singapore between 7–13 June 2014. Singapore won the tournament and qualified for 2016 ACC Premier League. Saudi Arabia finishing second qualified for 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Six.
| Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Singapore | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +3.243 |
 Saudi Arabia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +2.150 |
 Kuwait | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +1.797 |
 Maldives | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1.534 |
 Bahrain | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.797 |
 Bhutan | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4.679 |
2023[edit]
ACC announced the new 2023 Asia Cup qualification pathway. A total of 8 associate teams would participate in the Challenger Cup, and the top two teams would be qualified for the Premier Cup. The Premier Cup would be a 10 team tournament.[2]
2023 ACC Men's Challenger Cup[edit]
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
|---|---|
2023 ACC Men's Premier Cup[edit]
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
CAN announce the preliminary squad for ACC Premier Cup
The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has announced the preliminary squad for the ACC Premier Cup that starts on April 18. The tournament which will be held in Nepal is the gateway to the Asia Cup as the winner will book a spot in the upcoming edition.
ACC has already announced the schedule and fixtures for the tournament set to be played in Nepal from April 18 to May 1, 2023.
The hosts Nepal have been placed in Group ‘A’ with Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Group ‘B’ will consist of United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore, and Bahrain. The matches will be held at TU International Cricket Ground and Mulpani Cricket Ground.
The tournament will commence on April 18, with Nepal taking on Malaysia at TU Cricket Ground. The home side will play a single game at Mulpani Cricket Ground against Saudi Arabia.
The winning team of the tournament will join India and Pakistan in Group A of the Asia Cup 2023, which will take place in September. Furthermore, the top three teams of the Premier Cup will also get the opportunity to feature in the ACC Emerging Cup in July.
Nepal’s Preliminary Squad: Rohit Paudel (c), Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Surya Tamang, Shyam Dhakal (Mousam), Kamal Singh Airee, Pratish GC, Dev Khanal, Kishore Mahato, Arjun Saud, Sundeep Jora
Nepal aims to secure the top spot defeating Qatar
Nepal is playing the last group-stage match of the ACC Premier Cup on Thursday (today) against Qatar. The match will start at 9:00 AM (NST) at TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.
Nepal has already secured a place in the semi-finals, but they have a chance to become the leader of Group A, winning against Qatar. Even a single point earned from the match will be enough for Nepal to top Group A. In addition, Hong Kong will be playing against Kuwait at Mulpani Cricket Ground, and the winner of both matches will determine the semi-final fixture.
Nepal’s win and Hong Kong’s defeat means Either Kuwait or UAE (based on NRR) will be Nepal’s opponent. If Hong Kong wins and Qatar stuns Nepal, then Hong Kong will be Nepal’s opponent. Similarly, If both teams manage a win, then Nepal will face UAE in the semi-final.
Nepal started the tournament with a win against Malaysia, followed by a record-breaking win against Oman in the 50th ODI match. The third match and only fixture at Mulpani against Saudi Arabia was abandoned by rain, forcing them to share a point.
Meanwhile, Qatar are winless in the tournament facing a defeat against Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
The Nepalese national cricket team’s head coach Monty Desai has been honoured as Nagarik Nayak 2080. He was awarded for his influence on Nepal’s recent success.
Lalitpur Metropolitan’s Mayor, Chiribabu Maharjan, and Nepal Public Media’s founding president Binod Raj Gyawali honoured coach Desai on Monday on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Nepal Republic Media.
Nepal won 11 of the last 12 CWC League 2 matches after the appointment of Monty Desai and booked a direct spot in the world cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe. In honour of this, he was declared Nagarik Nayak of the Year 2080.
Monty Desai was appointed as the head coach of the Nepalese national cricket team in February 2023, signing a couple of years’ contract.
Earlier, Desai was the batting consultant of the Nepali U-19 team in 2017. Prior to that, he worked for the national cricket team during the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
Desai worked as the batting coach of the West Indies for a couple of years. He has had coaching experience with Afghanistan, Canada, UAE and IPL teams Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Lions, apart from other regional squads in India and Canada. He was Afghanistan’s batting coach when they won the World Cup 2019 Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
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