KATHMANDU, July 22: As the dates for the ACC Men's U-19 Premier cricket is approaching nearer, Nepal is all set to finalize an 18-member team by Saturday and start its second round of training at earliest.
The ACC U-19 Premier is scheduled to be held in Malaysia from August 26 to September 4. The event is the last tournament to be organized by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as the International Cricket Council (ICC) has closed its regional office on July 1.Currently 45 players are in the first phase closed camp training conducted by Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). The 10-day long initial phase training will concluded on Wednesday.
Among 45 players, 18 players belong to the final squad of Nepal that featured in the ACC U-19 Premier League held in Kuwait in November last year.
Similarly, 18 players are from different nine regions of CAN, which picked up two emerging players from each region after failing to conduct national selection tournament. The CAN has been claiming that it did not organize the tournament due to monsoon (season). Likewise, some other players, in the closed camp, are the members of U-16 team.
The 18-member squad is expected to be announced by Saturday, according to CAN Acting General Secretary Uttam Karmacharya. "We will announce the squad by Saturday, but it could be earlier as well," he added.
Jagat Tamata, Samsung Jung Thapa and Arun Aryal are the coaches involved in the training and are making every effort to hone the young talents.
"Every member in the camp are talented, some new faces have the potential to performance better at the big stage," said coach Tamata, who was busy honing the skills to face new challenges at regular intervals in training.
Although, the pitch and outfield was wet due to regular rainfall, players were determined impress coaching staff to secure their places in the final squad as more than half of them will be axed from the second round of training to start soon.
"Players are really working hard in the training and we have been utilizing indoor hall and center wicket for different purposes of training," added Tamata who has been trying to minimize the effects of rainfall.
Cricketers likely to train in Test playing nations
Some of the players selected for the final squad could be sent to Test playing South Asian countries for the trainings.
"I have been in contact with some of the academies and coaches in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and they are positive in enrolling some of our players for time being. Some of the fast bowlers and batsmen could be sent to these nations in August," said Tamata, however, the final decision will depend upon CAN.
"We are planning to send the players as we could not provide better facilities due to rainy weather," he added.
Opportunity to prepare for ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers
Coach Jagat Tamata said that the tournament would also serve as platform for Nepal to prepare for the upcoming ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers. The scheduled is yet to be announced. Though, ICC had earlier named Nepal as the host for the Qualifiers it is re-considering about the venue after April 25 earthquake.
The qualifiers are expected to be held in November/December and the finals will be played in Bangladesh from January 22 to February 14.
Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, USA and Ireland will vie for only spot in the U-19 World Cup.
Nepal will play the qualifiers in the capacity of runner-up of the ACC U-19 Premier League held in Kuwait last year. Afghanistan qualified for the World Cup after clinching the title of same tournament.
"The matches played in the tournament will also serve as practice matches for the Qualifiers and we should utilize the platform properly," he added.