Asia Cup 2023: Oldest and youngest player in all 6 squads
Asia Cup 2023 got underway on Wednesday, August 30, in Multan. This year, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the two hosts of the continental championship. Apart from Pakistan and Sri Lanka, four other teams, namely India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal are a part of the tournament.
All six teams have one eye on the ODI World Cup scheduled to happen later this year as they aim to finalize their team combinations in Asia Cup 2023. Teams have preferred a blend of youth and experience for the mega event.
In this listicle now, we will look at the youngest and oldest player of all six squads.
#6 Nepal: Youngest - Gulsan Jha, Oldest - Karan KC
Nepal made history by qualifying for the Asia Cup 2023 tournament. They have made it to the grand event for the first time in the competition's history. Medium pacer Gulsan Jha is the youngest player in Nepal's squad. The 17-year-old is also the youngest cricketer playing in Asia Cup 2023.
All-rounder Karan KC is the oldest player in Nepal's team. He is a right-handed batter and a right-arm pacer, who has represented Nepal in 47 ODIs. The 31-year-old has scored 356 runs and picked up 74 wickets.
#5 Afghanistan: Youngest - Noor Ahmad, Oldest - Mohammad Nabi
Afghanistan's spinners Noor Ahmad and Mohammad Nabi are the youngest and oldest cricketers in their Asia Cup 2023 squad, respectively.
Ahmad, aged 18, is a left-arm wrist-spinner, having the experience of three ODI matches.
Nabi, 38, is the oldest cricketer across all squads in this edition of the continental championship. The veteran all-rounder has represented Afghanistan in 145 ODIs, aggregating 3,085 runs and scalping 154 wickets.
#4 Bangladesh: Youngest - Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Oldest - Shakib Al Hasan
Bangladesh's youngest cricketer in this year's Asia Cup is Tanzim Hasan Sakib. He is a 20-year-old medium pacer, who is yet to play any international matches at the senior level. Sakib has scalped 57 wickets in 37 List-A games.
Captain Shakib Al Hasan is the oldest member of Bangladesh's squad. Shakib has scored 7,211 runs and picked up 305 wickets in 235 ODIs. Even at the age of 36, he continues to be one of the world's best all-rounders.
#3 Pakistan: Youngest - Naseem Shah, Oldest - Fakhar Zaman
Fast bowler Naseem Shah is playing his second Asia Cup tournament at the age of 20. The right-arm pacer impressed the cricket universe with his fast-bowling skills at last year's Asia Cup. He will aim to replicate the same performance in 2023.
Opener Fakhar Zaman is the oldest member of Pakistan's squad. The 33-year-old left-handed batter has a decent in ODI cricket, but he had a forgettable outing against Nepal.
#2 Sri Lanka: Youngest - Dunith Wellalage, Oldest - Dimuth Karunaratne
Sri Lanka's squad has a couple of 20-year-old pacers. One of them is fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana, while the other is slow left-arm bowler Dunith Wellalage. Dunith is 21 days younger than Pathirana. He has picked up nine wickets in nine ODIs thus far.
Top-order batter Dimuth Karunaratne is the oldest member of Sri Lanka's Asia Cup 2023 team. Karunaratne has scored 1,248 runs in 44 ODIs. The 35-year-old has recorded one century and 11 half-centuries in the 50-over format.
#1 India: Youngest - Tilak Varma, Oldest - Rohit Sharma
Like Bangladesh, India's youngest player in Asia Cup 2023 is an uncapped ODI 20-year-old player and the oldest player is the 36-year-old captain.
The BCCI has given the 20-year-old middle-order Tilak Varma a chance to showcase his talent in the continental championship. He has played T20Is for India but is yet to play an ODI game.
Rohit Sharma will captain India for the third consecutive time in the Asia Cup. Under his captaincy, India became the champions in 2018 and made it to the Super 4s in 2022. It will be interesting to see how the team performs this year.