KATHMANDU, Sept 19: Nepal national cricket team’s selection committee has announced a preliminary 18-man squad for closed camp for the ICC World Twenty20 Asia Qualifier ‘B’, a tournament played as part of 2020 ICC World Twenty20 Qualification, to be played in Malaysia from October 3-12. The closed camp starts from Thursday at TU international cricket ground in Kathmandu.
Due to a clash of dates, Rohit Kumar Paudel has been released to feature in Nepal’s U-19 national team set to participate in ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Youth Asia Cup that starts September 29 and ends October 7.
“He was needed for U-19 team participating in Youth Asia Cup clashing with senior team’s ICC WT20 Asia Region qualifiers dates. Hence, he was released from the squad,” said Raman Shiwakoti, manager of Nepal national team.
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Similarly, U-19 players like Pawan Sarraf and Kamal Singh Airee were not considered for selections. The U-19 team is currently in India which played its last game on Tuesday in the Quadrangular One-Day Series hosted by BCCI in Lucknow.
Sharad Vesawkar has returned after the injury he sustained last month that cost him a place in the team which played Asia Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia.
Subash Khakurel who opened for Nepal in the qualifiers earlier this month has been dropped from the preliminary squad due to bad outings with the bat in Malaysia.
The pace bowler from Pokhara, Dipesh Shrestha, has been included in the squad after a mixed performance by back up pacers Karan KC and Lalit Bhandari in recent times. Similarly, the left-arm spinner Shahab Alam has been called up as the third option in the department after veteran Basant Regmi and Lalit Rajbanshi.
The selection committee for the T20 qualifiers was headed by International Cricket Council (ICC) representative Aminul Islam, Nepal national cricket team’s head coach Jagat Tamatta, and national captain Khadka.
SQUAD
Paras Khadka (C), Anil Kumar Sah, Basant Regmi, Binod Bhandari, Dipendra Singh Airee, Dipesh Shrestha, Gyanendra Malla, Karan KC, Lalit Bhandari, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Md. Arif Sheikh, Pradeep Airee, Sagar Pun, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shahab Alam, Sharad Vesawkar, Sompal Kami, Sunil Dhamala
