"Nepal Army had officially requested us to give them permission to participate in the national tournaments as a departmental side and we sanctioned their request recently," said Ashok Nath Pyakuryal, the general secretary of CAN. "They will be the 11th team in the National T20 Cricket Tournament as we have nine cricket regions and Nepal APF Club is already in the domestic format," he added.[break]
According to Pyakuryal, CAN has asked Nepal Army for assurance of regular participation in the national level tournaments.A Nepal Army source confirmed that the departmental side has already started preparations for the National T20 Cricket Tournament.
"We are in the process of selecting our team. We are looking for 13 cricketers to sign contracts with them while we have around seven players from our institution itself. We will pick our squad ahead of the National T20 Cricket Tournament," said the source.
According to the source, Nepal Army is in the process of signing contracts with national team players Pradeep Airee, Anil Mandal, Binod Bhandari, Naresh Budhaayer, Sagar Pun, Avinash Karn, Chandra Saud and Rahul Vishwakarma. Likewise, cricketers Rajesh Pulami, Rupesh Shrivastav, Prabin Joshi, Bijay Gautam and Robin Joshi are also preparing to sign contracts with the departmental team.
Nepal Army´s Indra Kamal Manandhar will be the team captain. Lokendra Chand, Tek Bahadur Rawal, Biswas Adhikari, Hari Krishna Jha, Bikram Sood, Jeevan Nath are the other army men preparing for the T20 tournament.
"It´s a wonderful thing to know that Nepal Army has been preparing to form a cricket team. Thanks to Nepal Army as it is another step toward the development of cricket in the country," said national cricket team captain Paras Khadka.
"As I know they are in the process of signing contracts with some young talents, I´m happy rather than taking it as a challenge for my own departmental side," said Khadka, also the captain of Nepal APF Club. "My only wish is that Nepal Army does not suffer the same fate as Nepal Police Club´s cricket team. Nepal Army should play the national tournaments regularly," he added.
Nepal Police Club had also formed a cricket team in 2011 and won the National T20 Tournament then but didn´t participate in 2012. Meanwhile, Nepal APF Club, which enrolls senior players of the current national team, has been dominating the domestic cricket events.
Izhar to lead National Selection Committee
The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has formed a three-member National Selection Committee and appointed former national player Musharraf Izhar as the convener of the committee. Izhar was a member of the Nepali squad during the ACC Trophy 1996 and 1998.
Manoj Katuwal, a former wicketkeeper of the national team, and Basudev Joshi, a former cricketer from Region No 6 (Baitadi), are the members of the committee.
According to CAN Secretary Uttam Karmacharya, the committee will have a one-year term.
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