Newly united Hong Kong aiming to overcome key absences on T20 World Cup mission

Deprived of the player he called “the future of Hong Kong cricket”, and also without one of the city’s greatest batsmen for the beginning of a winding 2028 T20 World Cup qualifying campaign this week, Kaushal Silva looked forward to a time when key absences were covered by oven-ready replacements from a growing talent pool.

Head coach Silva’s 14-man party for the first round of qualifiers in Malaysia features only four players from the last Hong Kong team to compete in a major tournament at the 2016 T20 World Cup.

It is relatively long in the tooth, nonetheless, with eight men who are 30 or older, including Ehsan Khan, the off-spin bowler, who will turn 42 before the turn of the year.

The inclusion of the exciting 16-year-old batsman, Reyansh Sharma, nods towards Silva’s wish for regeneration, and helps lower the squad’s average age to 30.07.