Nepal won the Division 3 in Bermuda on May 7 defeating Uganda by five wickets. The national team is leaving for the UAE on Sunday to compete in the World T20 Qualifiers. The national team is also competing in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers to be held in New Zealand in January 2014.[break]
Standard Chartered and Varun Beverage, the producers of soft drink Pepsi in Nepal, gave away Rs 20,000 each to all 15 players of the team and coach Pubudu Dasanayake. Standard Chartered CEO Joseph Silvanus and Varun Beverage Unit Manager Rohit Kohli handed over the cash prizes.
Speaking at the function, Kohli of Varun Beverage assured of support to cricket in future as well. ´As sponsor Varun Beverage will further support you to make cricket a big platform,´ said Kohli, adding that the team could do wonders in the upcoming tournaments.
Silvanus of Standard Chartered opined that the team was carrying the hopes and aspirations of entire Nepal. ´You are the leaders of Nepal, bring back all the glory you can,´ Silvanus said.
Assuring that his side would come up with its best performance, skipper Paras Khadka said they have been training hard for the last two months. ´It is the time we have been waiting for,´ said Khadka, referring to the qualifiers in the UAE. ´As a team we have been working really hard for the last two months. It has always been a childhood dream for all of us to play the World Cup. It is a lifetime opportunity and hopefully we will make it to the World Cup.´
Shanti Ram Sharma, acting secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, said that the entire country had huge expectations from the cricket team. ´Cricket is the only team game of Nepal to reach the world arena. The country is expecting a lot from you. You have the capability and the zeal to win,´ said Sharma.
Nepal is pitted against Afghanistan, Scotland, The Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Bermuda and Denmark in Group B of the qualifiers. Nepal will take on Denmark in its opening match on Friday. Similarly, Ireland, Canada, the UAE, Namibia, Hong Kong, Uganda, the USA and Italy make up Group A. The top six teams of the qualifiers will secure berth in the finals to be held in 2014.
Live webcast of World T20 Qualifiers
KATHMANDU (REPUBLICA): Cricket fans can watch the live webcast of Nepal"s three group stage matches of the ICC World T20 Qualifiers. According to Nepal"s coach Pubudu Dassanayake, the International Cricket Council (ICC) will webcast the live streaming of Nepal"s match against ODI teams Scotland, The Netherlands and Afghanistan. Nepal will play against Scotland on November 18, The Netherlands two days later and Afghanistan on November 22. ICC will also webcast the knockout stage matches.
Only one sponsor on jersey
KATHMANDU (REPUBLICA): Despite having two sponsors -- Pepsi (Varu Beverage) and Standard Chartered Bank -- the national cricket team"s jersey for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers will have the logo of Standard Chartered only. Pepsi and Standard Chartered have been the joint sponsors of the Nepali cricket team for the last five years. Ashok Nath Pyakurel, the general secretary of Cricket Association of Nepal, said, ´A team could wear jersey bearing only one sponsor"s logo during the main event of International Cricket Council (ICC). Thus the team will wear jersey having Standard Chartered logo in the T20 Qualifiers and Pepsi logo during the World Cup Qualifiers in January in New Zealand. It was decided after discussions with both the sponsors.´ Standard Chartered has been the sponsor of the team since 2007 and Pepsi since 2009.
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