Asadollah Vala (born 5 August 1987) is a Papua New Guinea cricketer and the captain of the national side.[1][2] A left-handed batsman and off spin bowler, he has played for the Papua New Guinea national team since 2005.[3]
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| Full name | Asadollah Vala | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 August 1987 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm off break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Pauke Siaka (wife) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| ODI debut (cap 10) | 8 November 2014 v Hong Kong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 5 April 2023 v Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 9) | 15 July 2015 v Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 21 September 2023 v Hong Kong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 21 September 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early career
editBorn in Papua New Guinea in 1987,[3] Assad Vala first represented Papua New Guinea at the under-19 level, playing in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh.[4] He made his debut for the senior side at the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland, where he played seven List A matches.[5]
He returned to the under-19 level later in the year, playing in the Africa/East Asia-Pacific Under-19 Championship at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, South Africa. In 2006, he played for a combined East Asia Pacific team in the Australian National Country Cricket Championship, and did so again in 2007 and 2008.[4]
In 2007, Vala played in Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin and represented his country at the 2007 South Pacific Games,[4] where he won a gold medal in the cricket tournament.[6]
International career
editHe made his One Day International (ODI) debut on 8 November 2014 against Hong Kong in Australia.[7] He made his Twenty20 International debut against Ireland in the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament on 15 July 2015.[8]
In June 2015 on his first-class cricket debut, he scored a match-winning 124 not out against the Netherlands in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup.[9] He scored three hundreds in his first four matches, also making centuries against Ireland (120) and Namibia (144 not out).[10]
In February 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Vala as one of the ten players to watch ahead of the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament.[11] In June 2018, at the Papua New Guinea Cricket Awards, he won the Tony Elly Medal for the best male player.[12]
In August 2018, he was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for Group A of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier tournament.[13] He was the leading run-scorer in Group A of the tournament, with 294 runs in six matches.[14] In March 2019, he was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier tournament.[15] The following month, he was named captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament in Namibia.[16]
In June 2019, he was selected to represent the Papua New Guinea cricket team in the men's tournament at the 2019 Pacific Games.[17] In September 2019, Vala was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2019 United States Tri-Nation Series.[18] In the final match of the series, against Namibia, he scored his first ODI century, with 104 runs from 114 balls.[19]
In September 2019, he was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates.[20][21] Ahead of the tournament, the ICC named him as the key player in Papua New Guinea's squad.[22] He was the leading run-scorer for Papua New Guinea in the tournament, with 197 runs in eight matches.[23]
In November 2020, Vala was nominated for the ICC Men's Associate Cricketer of the Decade award.[24] In August 2021, Vala was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[25]
In May 2024, he was named the captain in Papua New Guinea’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.[26]
References
edit- ^ "Assad Vala". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ "PNG squad for Inter-continental Cup match against Namibia". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ^ a b CricketArchive profile
- ^ a b c Other matches played by Asad Vala Archived 18 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine at CricketArchive
- ^ List A matches played by Asad Vala at CricketArchive
- ^ Points table for the 2007 South Pacific Games cricket tournament at CricketArchive
- ^ "Hong Kong tour of Australia, 1st ODI: Papua New Guinea v Hong Kong at Townsville, Nov 8, 2014". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
- ^ "ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, 23rd Match, Group A: Ireland v Papua New Guinea at Belfast, Jul 15, 2015". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ "ICC Intercontinental Cup, Netherlands v Papua New Guinea at Amstelveen, Jun 16-18, 2015". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- ^ "ICC Intercontinental Cup Results". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ "10 stars to look out for at CWCQ". International Cricket Council. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ "Assad Vala, Pauke Siaka win top PNG Cricket awards". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ "Squads and fixtures announced for 2020 ICC World T20 - EAP Group 'A' 2018". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ "ICC World Twenty20 East Asia-Pacific Region Qualifier A, 2018, Most Runs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Squads and Fixtures Announced for 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup EAP Final 2019". Cricket Philippines. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- ^ "Barras on a mission". The National (Papua New Guinea). Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ^ "Athlete List for Samoa 2019 Pacific Games". Pacific Games Council. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ "First One Day International to be played in USA". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- ^ "Vala century in vain as Namibia see off PNG". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ "Barras named for qualifiers". The National. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ "Captains enthusiastic ahead of ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
- ^ "Team preview: Papua New Guinea". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
- ^ "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier, 2019/20 - Papua New Guinea: Batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ "ICC Awards of the Decade announced". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ "Papua New Guinea unveil T20 World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ "Papua New Guinea's Player Squad for ICC T20 World Cup". ScoreWaves. Retrieved 12 June 2024.