Kuwait national cricket team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kuwait national cricket team is the team that represents Kuwait in international cricket. The team is organised by Cricket Kuwait, which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2005, having previously been an affiliate member since 1998.[4] Kuwait made its international debut in 1979, but has only played regularly at international level since the early 2000s, appearing regularly in Asian Cricket Council tournaments since then. Beginning in the early 2010s, the side appeared in several World Cricket League events, although it was relegated back to regional level after the 2013 Division Six tournament.[5]
Associate member (2005)
| ||||||||||
| Association | Cricket Kuwait | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personnel | ||||||||||
| Captain | Mohammed Aslam | |||||||||
| Coach | Kabir Khan | |||||||||
| International Cricket Council | ||||||||||
| ICC status | Affiliate (1998) Associate member (2005) | |||||||||
| ICC region | Asia | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| International cricket | ||||||||||
| First international | v  Bahrain at Kuwait City; 30 October 1979 | |||||||||
| T20 Internationals | ||||||||||
| First T20I | v  Maldives at Oman Cricket Academy Ground Turf 1, Al Amarat; 20 January 2019 | |||||||||
| Last T20I | v  Hong Kong at Mission Road Ground, Mong Kok; 1 March 2026 | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| T20 World Cup Qualifier appearances | 1[a] (first in 2023) | |||||||||
| Best result | Group stage (2023) | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| As of 1 March 2026 | ||||||||||
History
The Kuwait Cricket Association was formed in 1996[6] and they became an affiliate member of the ICC two years later.[4]
21st century
2000 - 2017
They participated in the ACC Trophy for the first time in 2000, but couldn't progress beyond the first round,[7] a performance they repeated in the 2002 tournament.[8]
In 2004, Kuwait pulled off a series off upsets to finish in third place in that year's ACC Trophy, only just missing out on qualification for the 2005 ICC Trophy. They did qualify for the repêchage tournament in early 2005[9] in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in which they finished sixth after losing to the Cayman Islands in a play-off.[10]
In February 2006, Kuwait finished third out of five teams when they hosted the ACC Middle East Cup.[11] In August, they took part in the ACC Trophy, but were unable to reproduce their strong 2004 performance. They were eliminated in the first round when a tie with Hong Kong left them in third place in their group on run rate. A win in this match would have seen them through to the quarter finals.[12]
In 2007 Kuwait played in the ACC Twenty20 Cup, which they also hosted. They finished third in the tournament, beating the UAE by three runs in a play-off.[13]
Kuwait has participated in several World Cricket League tournaments, hosting and winning Division Eight in 2010;[14] winning Division Seven in Botswana in May 2011;[15] and coming third in Division Six in Malaysia in September 2011. Kuwait set one of the lowest ever T20 targets during the 2014 Asian Games.[16]
2018-Present
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Kuwait and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 have the full T20I status.[17]
Kuwait made its Twenty20 International debut on 20 January 2019, defeating Maldives by eight wickets in the 2019 ACC Western Region T20 at Al Emarat Cricket Stadium, Muscat, Oman.[18]
In 2018 former South African international Herschelle Gibbs was appointed coach of Kuwait for the 2020 ICC World Twenty20 qualification process.[19]
Tournament history
- Legend
- Champions
- Runners-up
- Third place/Semi-finals
- Hosts
- Q Qualified/Advanced to next stage
- DNQ Did not qualify
Promoted
Remained in the same division
Relegated
Cricket World Cup
| Cricket World Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pld | W | L | T | NR | |
 1975 | Not an ICC member | Not an ICC member | |||||||||||
| 1979 | |||||||||||||
 1983 | |||||||||||||
  1987 | |||||||||||||
  1992 | |||||||||||||
 1996 | |||||||||||||
   1999 | Not eligible; ICC affiliate member | Not eligible; ICC affiliate member | |||||||||||
   2003 | |||||||||||||
 2007 | Did not qualify | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
 2011 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||
| 2015 | Did not qualify | 17 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| 2019 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2023 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||
 2027 | To be determined | 10* | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Total | N/a | 0/14 | – | – | – | – | – | 41 | 25 | 13 | 1 | 2 | |
Men's T20 World Cup
Asian Games
| Cricket at the Asian Games record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
 2010 | Did not participate | |||||||
 2014 | Quarter-finals | 5/10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2022 | Did not participate | |||||||
 2026 | ||||||||
| Total | 1/4 | 0 Titles | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
Other global tournaments
| CWC Challenge League (List A) | CWC Challenge League Play-off (List A) | World Cricket League (LA/OD/ODI) |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Other regional tournaments
| T20WC Asia Regional Final[b] (T20I) | T20WC Asia Sub-regional Qualifiers (T20I) | Premier Cup/Asia Cup Qualifier (OD/T20I) |
|---|---|---|
| ACC Twenty20 Cup (T20) | ACC Trophy (OD) | ACC Western Region T20 (T20) |
Current squad
This lists all the players who have played for Kuwait in 12 months or has been part of the latest One-day or T20I squad.
| Name | Age | Batting style | Bowling style | Forms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batters | |||||
| Ravija Sandaruwan | 34 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | One-day & T20I | |
| Meet Bhavsar | 22 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | One-day & T20I | |
| Bilal Tahir | 28 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | One-day & T20I | Vice-Captain |
| Mohammad Amin | 39 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | One-day | |
| Clinto Anto | 32 | Right-handed | One-day & T20I | ||
| Muhammad Umar | 22 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | T20I | |
| All-rounders | |||||
| Mohammed Aslam | 35 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | One-day & T20I | Captain |
| Yasin Patel | 28 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | One-day & T20I | |
| Shiraz Khan | 31 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | One-day & T20I | |
| Adnan Idrees | 35 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | One-day & T20I | |
| Nimish Lathief | 37 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | T20I | |
| Wicket-keeper | |||||
| Usman Patel | 35 | Right-handed | One-day & T20I | ||
| Bowlers | |||||
| Mohamed Shafeeq | 32 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | One-day & T20I | |
| Sayed Monib | 34 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | One-day & T20I | |
| Shahrukh Quddus | 29 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | One-day | |
| Ilyas Ahmed | 35 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | One-day & T20I | |
| Nawaf Ahmed | 34 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | T20I | |
| Mirza Ahmed | 22 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | T20I | |
Updated as of 9 September 2024.
Records
International Match Summary — Kuwait[20]
Last updated 1 March 2026
| Playing Record | ||||||
| Format | M | W | L | T | NR | Inaugural Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twenty20 Internationals | 82 | 44 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 20 January 2019 |
Twenty20 International
- Highest team total: 226/4 v Maldives, 2 September 2024 at UKM-YSD Cricket Oval, Bangi[21]
- Highest individual score: 111*, Usman Patel v Maldives, 2 September 2024 at UKM-YSD Cricket Oval, Bangi[22]
- Best individual bowling figures: 4/5, Mohammed Aslam v Iran, 25 February 2020 at Oman Cricket Academy Ground, Muscat[23]
|
Most T20I runs for Kuwait[24]
|
Most T20I wickets for Kuwait[25]
|
T20I record versus other nations[20]
Records complete to T20I #3748. Last updated 1 March 2026.
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First match | First win |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs Associate Members | |||||||
 Bahrain | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 23 January 2019 | 23 January 2019 |
 Cambodia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 April 2024 | 13 April 2024 |
| Hong Kong | 11 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 23 August 2022 | 21 August 2024 |
 Iran | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 February 2020 | 25 February 2020 |
| Japan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 October 2025 | |
 Malaysia | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 July 2019 | 25 August 2024 |
| Maldives | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 January 2019 | 20 January 2019 |
 Mongolia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 August 2024 | 30 August 2024 |
 Myanmar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 September 2024 | 3 September 2024 |
 Nepal | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 July 2019 | 13 April 2025 |
 Oman | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 September 2023 | 20 December 2024 |
 Qatar | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 22 January 2019 | 4 July 2019 |
 Saudi Arabia | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 January 2019 | 23 February 2020 |
 Singapore | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 August 2022 | 24 August 2022 |
 Tanzania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 March 2024 | 6 March 2024 |
 United Arab Emirates | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 24 February 2020 | 21 August 2022 |
 Vanuatu | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 March 2024 | 7 March 2024 |
Administration and support staff
| Position | Name | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Qasim Ali | ||||||||
| Assistant coach | Nikhil Kulkarni | ||||||||
| Fielding Coach | Shashika | ||||||||
| Analyst | Prabhath Fernando | ||||||||
| Source: | |||||||||