Asia Cup T20 Qualifier scheduled for February

The four-team Asia Cup T20 Qualifier will be held in Bangladesh from February 19 to 22. Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Oman and UAE will play each other to decide the one Associate who will advance to the main draw involving the region's four Full Member teams.

ESPNcricinfo understands the format for the qualifier will feature a single round-robin stage with each team playing three matches and the team that finishes on top will advance to the main event. In case two teams finish with the same points, their net run rates will be used as tiebreaker.

Sources had earlier indicated that the qualifier might be played in November in the UAE due to the fact that Hong Kong are touring to play UAE for a four-day Intercontinental Cup match and two WCL Championship ODIs while Afghanistan are hosting Papua New Guinea at Sharjah in the I-Cup a few days later.

Oman's geographical proximity to the UAE was also a factor, but the four Asian teams will be playing a series of bilateral T20Is against each other from November 25 to 30. They will be the first T20Is for each country since the World T20 Qualifier in June. Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Oman have all qualified for the World T20 next March in India.