KATHMANDU, Aug 19: Nepal national cricket team has announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Asia Cup Qualifiers. The qualifiers will be held in Malaysia from August 27 to September 6. The winner of the tournament will qualify for the ACC Asia Cup.
The announcement of the squad was made in Kathmandu on Saturday.
In the first international squad after the retirement of veteran cricketer Shakti Gauchan, returnee Sagar Pun has been roped in as his replacement. Gauchan bade adieu to international cricket earlier this month after appearing in Nepal’s historic and first-ever ODI series, against the Netherlands, in Amstelveen on August 1. Nepal had lost the first match and went on to win the second one to square the two-match series one-all. Gauchan will continue to feature in domestic tournaments, though.
Pun was dropped after an extended inconsistent run with the bat at top of the innings for Nepal in the ICC World Cricket League Championship that ran from 2015 to 2017.
Injured Sharad Vesawkar is replaced by middle order dasher Binod Bhandari who is making his comeback after the same duration of absence as that of Pun.
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Vesawkar had injured a finger in his right hand while fielding in the first match of the ODI series in the Netherlands. The injury is set to keep Vesawkar out for at least four weeks. Bhandari can also keep wickets, if need be, and Pun has been a handy off-spinner for the national team in the past.
Pun was a key to Kuala Lumpur’s unbeaten Malaysian Premier League title charge. He scored 452 runs in 10 matches including two centuries including one in the semifinal, as well as picking up nine wickets with a best of 4 for 29 runs. The right-handed batsman was the top of the run getter chart in the league.
Pun notched up back-to-back man-of-the-series award in Malaysia, the first being in the Inter-Provincial Prime Minister (PM) Cup in home in July. Pun, playing for Tribhuvan Army Club, had scored 211 runs in six matches including a century and picked up 11 wickets in the PM Cup.
Likewise, Bhandari had made 209 runs and finished third on top run-scorer’s table during the PM cup. He had smashed two fifties while leading the Tribhuvan Army Club in the tournament with an astonishing strike rate of 194.
The rest of the squad remains unchanged that played the ODI series against the Netherlands, with Paras Khadka leading the squad, deputized by Gyanendra Malla. The selection committee was led by the head coach of the national cricket team Jagat Tamatta and skipper Khadka.
Another prolific scorer in Nepal’s domestic league Sunil Dhamala remains to be seen as he has been picked for reserves along with Kishore Mahato, Pradeep Airee and Susan Bhari.
SQUAD: Paras Khadka (Captain), Gyanendra Malla (Vice Captain), Anil Kumar Sah, Basant Regmi, Binod Bhandari, Dipendra Singh Airee, Karan KC, Lalit Bhandari, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Md. Arif Sheikh, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Sagar Pun, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sompal Kami, Subash Khakurel.
Reserve Players: Kishor Mahato, Pradeep Airee, Sunil Dhamala, Sushan Bhari
Nepal to tour Sri Lanka
The national cricket team is set to depart for Sri Lanka for three practice matches on Monday. Nepal will play against the Army Cricket team in Panagoda on August 22, Bloomfield on August 24, and Colts on August 26 in their home grounds.
The national team will then head to Malaysia from Sri Lanka on August 27 to play its first match, on August 29, against Division 3 team Oman.
The top six Asian associate nations will compete to earn a spot in the forthcoming marquee Asia Cup in September. The qualifiers will run from August 29 to September 6. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will compete in the event.
The schedule for the Asia Cup has been confirmed for September 15-25 in the UAE. The winner of the qualifiers will be pitted with the world cricket heavyweights and finalists of ICC Champions Trophy -- India and Pakistan -- in Group A of the main round.
Group A will consist of India, Pakistan and the qualifying associate nation, while Group B will include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The final of the qualifiers, on September 6, will be broadcasted live on Indian sports channel Star Sports network.
