Afghanistan Takes ACC T20 as Practice Tournament

     Afganistan Coach Dawlat Ahmadzai said that his team is taking the ACC Twenty20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE in March 2012. Afghanistan has already booked its berth in the qualifiers as a team of Division -1 and One-Day status."We are preparing for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers, the ACC Twenty20 would be a good practice tournament for us,"said Ahmadzai. However, he said that they are confident about defending the ACC Twenty20 title. " We are well prepared for the tournament but the UAE, Nepal and Malaysia could be tough opponents," said Ahmadzai. Afghanistan and other top three teams of the ACC Twenty20 will secure berths in the qualifiers.


Pitch Ready
    Curator of the TU Cricket Ground, Ajay Pandey, said that four pitches are ready for the ACC Twenty20.
    The TU Ground will host the opener as well as the semifinal and final matches of the tournament.
    "I've prepared center wicket for the final and opening matches," said Pandey. "I've tried to provide flat wicket as the beauty of T20 tournament lies in the tuns scored," he added. The TU Ground is considered as a low-scoring and spin-friendly wicket but Pandey is hopeful that teams will be able to scores in this time around. " Run-scoring depends on the bating. A team can chase around 160 runs on this ground," said Pandey.
   According to Pandey, the center wicket has a bit more grass ans can help fast bowlers. "As we are preparing center wicket for the final, we should leave the grass for maintaining moisture," said Pandey.
(source : Republica )