KATHMANDU, July 13: Sandeep Lamichhane is set to continue as the captain of under-19 national cricket team following his assignment back in Sri Lanka in December 2016. He will lead the 14-member squad in upcoming Asian leg of ICC World Cup Qualifier to be held in Singapore starting from July 17. Dipendra Singh Airee will be his deputy.
Struggling for form wicket-keeper opening batsman Mohammad Aasif Sheikh also made it to the squad including another option in Prakash KC. Rijan Dhakal and Kishore Mahato are to set to carry the fast bowling duties supported by a variety of spinners in Lalit Rajbanshi, Pawan Sarraf, Shahab Alam and skipper Lamichhane himself.
In form batsmen, Dipendra Singh Airee and Pranit Thapa Magar are set to share the batting duties along with opener Sandeep Sunar, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Aadil Khan and Anil Kumar Sah.
A selection committee headed by Venkatapathi Raju, who is the Chief Development Officer of ICC-Asia, Nepal head coach Jagat Tamatta and U-19 team coach Binod Das selected the squad for the July tournament. The announcement came soon after Nepal concluded the recent five practice matches series in Greater Noida.
The team will travel to Singapore on 15 July 2017 from India. Malaysia, Singapore, and Afghanistan are the other three nations who will compete with Nepal for a place in the U19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand in 2018. Nepal will face hosts Singapore on July 17 in their first match of the qualifiers.
Squad
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Sandeep Lamichhane, Asif Sheikh, Aadil Khan, Anil Kumar Sah, Prakash KC, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pawan Sarraf, Sandeep Sunar, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Shahab Alam, Kishore Mahato, Rijan Dhakal, Lalit Rajbanshi and Pranit Thapa Magar.
Reserves
Sushant Singh Thapa, Bikram Kumar Bhusal, Sandeep Jora and Rasid Khan
