Nepal finished at the rock bottom with three points in Group A during the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier being held in Ireland and Scotland. Nepal must have secured berth for the next World T20 finals in order to retain its T20I status.International Cricket Council (ICC) had granted Nepal T20I status on 28 July, following its performances in the ICC World T20 held in Bangladesh last year, which came into effect from October 1.
ICC's Media and Communication Officer Peter Breen has said that Nepal's T20I status will remain only if it finishes at top six positions in the qualifier. Nepal team coach Pubudu Dassanayake also confirmed that Nepal lost its T20I Status.
Losing the status means Nepal's T20 matches against teams having International status no more will be counted as T20I. Currently, Nepal is in 15th position in the ICC rankings table f or T20I.
"T20I was one of the biggest achievements for Nepal as it had been in the ICC rankings," said cricket analyst Binay Kumar Jha. However, Nepal's T20I matches will be counted as it is.
Nepal has played 11 matches of T20I status so far, three matches during ICC World Twenty20 held in Bangladesh and one against Hong Kong last year.
Similarly, Nepal played four-match T20I series against the Netherlands before the qualifier and three matches during the qualifier.
Nepal played against Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong during ICC World Twenty20 held in Bangladesh last year.
Similarly, Nepal played only T20I against Hong Kong in Sri Lanka last year.
After that Nepal played four-match T20I series against the Netherlands from June 30 to July 3.
Matches against Ireland, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea during the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier being held in Ireland and Scotland also counted as T20I.
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