Remove ads
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]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Cricinfo, 21 September 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born 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]
Remove ads
He 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]
Remove ads
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads