KATHMANDU, July 3: Nepal U-19 cricket team faced an agonizing loss by a run under DLS method against the United Arab Emirates U-19 in a rain-marred match during the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifiers held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia earlier this year.
The loss means Nepal’s fate of reaching the world cup has ended. Nepal won rest of its matches in the league; the UAE did one better against Nepal. The ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, set to be held in South Africa next year, will host two new nations Nigeria and Japan, who will be making their debuts. On the other hand, Nepal, which was touted as one of the strongest group of players ever assembled with several players already represented in the senior national team, starts again from the scratch.
Nepal will start again participating in the ACC U-19 Eastern Region championship as a gateway to the Youth Asia Cup to be held later this year. The core of the players remains the same with an exception of few changes.
The U-19 team revolves around three key players. The mercurial captain Rohit Kumar Paudel continues to perform the dual duty of captaining the U-19 side and be a key member of senior cricket team’s middle order. Likewise, he will be accompanied by all-rounder Pawan Sarraf who is also a member of both teams. Similarly, the experience of explosive batsman Bhim Sarki will come handy for the junior team. All three were part of the squad which won the historic ODI and T20I series against the UAE.
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Similarly, the pace bowling department will be led by Rashid Khan and Kamal Singh Airee. Young left-arm pacer Pratish GC, who graduated from U-16 national team, will continue to perform a supportive role. GC forms a successful quadruple of U-16 graduates with Bishal Bikram KC, Rit Gautam and Tilak Raj Bhandari.
All-rounder Bikram and leg-spinner Bhandari have made it to the national team following their impressive performance in the recent ACC U-16 Eastern Region tournament that Nepal won. Bhandari has been selected ahead of Surya Tamang, who has been consistent when presented with chances.
Likewise, Hari Bahadur Chauhan, Kushal Malla, Sagar Dhakal, and Lokesh Bam retained their place in the team after performing well in the Asia qualifiers for the world cup.
The inclusion of Khadak Bohora, who impressed many with his opening batting for Sudur Paschim Province during the recent Prime Minister Cup One-Day Cricket Tournament, remains an intriguing option for the head coach Binod Das and captain Paudel.
Former captain Aasif Sheikh and middle order batsman Sundeep Jora have been rested from the squad to accommodate new faces like Bohora and Bikram.
The coach stressed on building the team for future as well. “We want to keep future tournament in mind as well without compromising our current chances,” said Das.
The captain is aware of lack of trophies in his cabinet despite his early days in the regime. “This is an opportunity to win a title under my captaincy as well as to face test nations upon our qualification in the Youth Asia Cup,” said Paudel before heading to Malaysia.
The eight team tournament which was reduced to seven teams after Myanmar opted out; Nepal will start its campaign against China today. Singapore is the third team in the trimmed Group A, whereas host Malaysia, Thailand, Bhutan, and Hong Kong comprise Group B.
The top two paced teams from each group will face in semifinals. The final match will be played on July 9. The winner of the tournament will qualify for the Youth Asia Cup scheduled for September this year.
SQUAD
Rohit Kumar Poudel, Bhim Sharki, Bishal Bikram KC, Hari Bahadur Chhauhan, Kushal Malla, Kamal Singh Airee, Khadak Bohora, Lokesh Bam, Pawan Sarraf, Pratis GC, Rashid Khan, Rit Gautam, Sagar Dhakal and Tilak Raj Bhandari.
