Newest team's interesting path

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South Korean baseball players are trading diamonds for ovals ahead of September’s Asian Games, with the country’s recently established national T20 side gearing up to take on the likes of India, Pakistan and world champions Sri Lanka in cricket’s shortest form.

Unlike the majority of developing cricket nations in the region that rely heavily on first or second-generation immigrants from the sub-continent, South Korea has built their side entirely from local baseball talent, raising the question of cricket’s viability in baseball-centric markets – namely the USA and Japan.

For the players, the transition has been an up and down affair, with varied degrees of difficulty associated with each discipline.  

"When making the switch from baseball, batting was quite tricky,” 23-year-old allrounder Choi Jiwon told Al Jazeera.

“Bowling was trickier. But fielding was easy.”

"What I like about cricket is there is more at stake when you bat. You only get one chance, unlike baseball where you may bat four or five times in a game.

"I really enjoy the fact that you have to focus so hard to achieve success."

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Former Pakistan fielding coach Julien Fountain took the reins of the South Korean national cricket team in April and is already impressed with the quality he has found within his ranks.

"They're beginners but it's cheating to call them that," Fountain said.

"Show me a beginner cricketer who can hit the ball 110 metres.

“I've got an opening batsman who hit 90 runs last week. He took the opposition apart.

“I'm still shocked by is that somehow these guys have learned to bowl spin just by watching YouTube. And they fizz it down at proper international pace.

"I've got a guy who can bowl a doosra and that’s incredible.

"I've also got players who bowl world-class off-spin at least one or two balls an over – proper, proper Graeme Swann or Saeed Ajmal stuff. Obviously there are some terrible balls in there as well, but that's what we need to work on."

Cricket will feature in the Asian Cup for the just the second time in the event’s history with South Korea hosting the 2014 edition from September 19 until October 4.