Nepal's praiseworthy performance in the World Cup (World T20) also earned ICC Twenty20 International Status for Nepal. Nepal's dream of playing in the World Cup materialized once it finished third in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers held in the United Arab Emirates in November 2013.Sri Lanka-born Canadian Pubudu Dassanayake was the mentor of the team to guide hardworking bunch of players to showcase their talents in the global arena.
Nearly after two years, Dassanayake and team Nepal are preparing for the same challenge as Nepal is all set display its mettle at the ICC World Twnety20 Qualifiers slated for July 9 to 26 in the European nations Ireland and Scotland.
Nepal which finished third in the Qualifiers in the UAE a couple of years back has set a revised target of finishing on top of the 2016 Qualifiers which sees top six teams qualify out of 14 participants.
"We are preparing to win the Qualifiers rather than concentrating only on qualifying for the next year's World Cup," said Dassanayake. "Although, the qualifiers will not be easy, our players know what to do since majority of them were in the squad that played last qualifiers."
India will host the ICC World Twenty20 Cup scheduled for 11 March to 3 April next year.
Nepal is in Group A along with co-host Ireland, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, USA and Jersey, while Afghanistan, UAE, co-host Scotland, Netherlands, Canada, Kenya and Oman are in Group B.
Chasing its ambition, Nepal toured India for a closed camp training and played four 20-overs matches against Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala Cricket Ground having similar condition to European host countries.
"It was one of the fruitful tours with sound training facilities in India," said coach Dassanayake, who also experimented for better team combination during practice matches. "I was not just focused on winning matches in India but also experimenting for best team combination with the view to pick best XI before the competition," said Dassanayake who also lamented for short closed camp training in India.
Senior member of the squad and spinner Shakti Gauchan also described the tour as best preparation for the qualifiers. However, he opined that preparation was too short due to the earthquake.
"The earthquake delayed our preparation for the qualifiers. However, we got opportunities to prepare in India and I think we will be able to give our best," said Shakti, who was at the Tribhuvan University Ground on Monday along with some other members of the team.
Nepal is scheduled to leave for England on Tuesday to play four 20-over practice matches against local clubs then head for the Netherlands where it will play four T20 Internationals against the host from June 30.
After the Dutch tour, Nepal will visit Ireland and play warm-up matches against Oman and the UAE on July 6 and 7 respectively before taking on the USA in its opener of the Qualifiers on July 10.
Since Nepal will play 10 matches before the qualifiers, Coach Dassanayake expected that he will pick best team out of the final 15 players. "We have good fast bowlers as well as spinners in the team. Batting is also improving and the youngsters are doing well," he said expressing hope that fast bowlers will be crucial in the qualifiers than spinners.
Although, Dassanayake is optimistic about team Nepal's future, but he was not sure how long he will be with the team.
"I always want to be with the team, but it depends on the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS). If I am offered short-term contract then I will have to look for other options as well. However, my current priority is the Qualifiers," shared Dassanayake.
CAN's annual general meeting on Saturday decided to extend Dassanayake's contract till December. He current term ends in mid-July.
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