Each member of the squad as well as the coaches were honored with Rs 100,000 each for their achievement in the World Cup and Rs 50,000 each for their their achievement in the qualifiers.Similarly, the government honored ultra-runner Mira Rai and bodybuilder Rujesh Shahi with Rs 100,000 each during the same program held at Satdobato, Lalitpur.
Minister for Information and Communication Sherdhan Rai, Minister for Youth and Sports Satya Narayan Mandal among other handed over the cash and letter of appreciation to them.
U-19 cricket captain Raju Rijal, vice-captain Aarif Sheikh, Sandeep Sunar, Sunil Dhamala, Dipendra Airee, Saurav Khanal, Prem Tamang, Sushil Kandel, Dipesh Shrestha, Rajbir Singh, Yogendra Karki and Shankar Rana were in both the squads and received Rs 150,000.
Similarly, head coach Jagat Tamata also received Rs 150,000 as he was the coach on both the occasions, while Binod Das, who was assistant coach during the world cup, received Rs 100,000.
Likewise, Sandeep Lamichhane, Himanshu Dutta and Ishan Pandey, the members of the world cup squad received Rs 100,000 each, while Kushal Bhurtel and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi received Rs 50,000 each for being in the team that played the qualifiers, whereas team physiotherapist Dinesh Bhatta received Rs 100,000.
Meanwhile, Minister Rai said that sports sector will be kept in high priority by the current government as the country could receive big success through sports.
"The sector has not been in the priority of the government for very long time due to poor political leadership. However, the current government will give priority as new sports policy is set to be introduced," said Rai.
Meanwhile, Minister Mandal blamed that the players' selection by the Cricket Association of Nepal has been biased in the past as the cricket governing body has also been marred by controversies.
"There has been politics-based policy in the country but no national sports policy and that has been killing the development of cricket in the country," said Mandal.
After being honored, U-19 team skipper Raju Rijal said that the government delayed in honoring the team. However, players are happy for being honored.
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