KATHMANDU, July 12: Nepal national cricket team’s T20 international (T20I) series of two matches against Malaysia is the first foray into international cricket after a six-month hiatus. Nepal completed its first T20I series win against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last time it donned the national colors. 

While there is an outside chance, depending on the other international matches at the period, Nepal can enter the top 10 of the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s official rankings for shortest format if wins the series. The eyes will be on getting the ideal practice before the ICC World T20 Qualifiers Asia Region Finals following the bilateral series.

Nepal has got to address one or two positions in the playing XI. Opening the batting has always remained Nepal’s the Achilles heel which seems to continue due to the absence of a specialist opener in the squad. 

Pradeep Airee and Pawan Sarraf, both are primarily middle order batsmen in domestic cricket whereas skipper Paras Khadka, who opened the batting in UAE series, is bestowed upon with the new role and responsibility by head coach Umesh Patwal.

The arrival of young, flamboyant and successful players, however, has created pressure on veterans like Gyanendra Malla, Sharad Vesawkar and Basant Regmi to keep their places in the squad by maintaining consistent performance.

Likewise, Patwal has openly hailed the all-round capabilities of both Sompal Kami and Karan KC. The roles for both the players is touted as to be floaters to help keep the balance in the side and simultaneously surprise the opponents if need be. The coach had promoted KC in T20 whereas Kami in one-day cricket during his short stint with the side. Both players’ form will be crucial for Nepal in the upcoming season.

Nepal will play two matches against Malaysia before heading to Singapore for the qualifiers which start on July 20. 

The winner between the five teams including Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia and the host team Singapore will go on to play the ICC World T20 Global Qualifiers to be held in the UAE. 

Kuwait and Qatar were qualified from the Western Region group whereas Nepal along with Malaysia and Singapore secured their places from the Eastern Region.

Previously, the UAE had won the Western Region Asia Qualifiers to enter the Asia Region finals. The two finalists of the Asia finals were supposed to qualify for the global qualifiers. However, the UAE was granted the hosting rights of the World Qualifiers in its home grounds. Eventually the home team was given an automatic spot in the global event.

This will be first series for full-time appointee Patwal as head coach who replaced Jagat Tamatta. 
Nepal made only a single change in the final 14-man squad bringing in veteran Vesawkar in place of Sandeep Jora. The latter had done well in the UAE series scoring and setting world record on his debut. The youngster scored a half-century and subsequently became the youngest player ever to score a half-century in T20I cricket.

Similarly, Aarif Sheikh and Bhim Sarki were dropped to trim the squad size from 16 to 14 for the upcoming assignments.

Skipper Khadka hinted at opening the batting again after doing so in the UAE series which Nepal won 2-1. His partner will be a toss-up between Pradeep Airee and Sarraf. Both were tried in the last series with none securing the position.

The middle order will be formed with the presence of veterans Gyanendra Malla and Sharad Vesawkar alongside U-19 captain Rohit Kumar Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee. Both Paudel and Sarraf joined the squad in Malaysia after winning the ACC U-19 Eastern Region. 

SQUAD
Paras Khadka (C), Abhinash Bohara, Basant Regmi, Binod Bhandari, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gyanendra Malla, Karan KC, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Pawan Sarraf, Pradeep Airee, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sharad Vesawkar, Sompal Kami.
Reserves: Jitendra Kumar Mukhiya, Sushan Bhari, Kushal Bhurtel, Aarif Sheikh.

 
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