KATHMANDU, March 30: The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has called up 20 players for the national team's closed training camp, excluding star spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and opener Anil Kumar Sah.
Anil is sidelined due to an injury, while Sandeep is excluded as he recently underwent surgery. Kiran Thagunna, Dipendra Rawat, Rupesh Singh, and Arjun Gharti have earned their spots in the closed training camp for the first time, having delivered outstanding performances in the Prime Minister Cup One Day Cricket Tournament, which concluded in Lumbini Province on Saturday.
Sandeep did not participate in the Prime Minister Cup due to his hernia surgery and has not fully recovered. Anil's ankle injury has also worsened. CAN has confirmed that the closed training will begin on Wednesday at the Siddhartha Cricket Ground in Rupandehi.
The CAN appointed Australian Stuart Law as the head coach of the Nepal national cricket team on Friday night, replacing Monty Desai. CAN called the players for the closed training camp on the same day the Prime Minister Cup concluded.
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Under Law's guidance, Nepal will play their first match against Hong Kong. On Saturday, CAN announced that Nepal will participate in a four-nation T20 International series in Hong Kong.
The series will take place from April 9 to 13, with Nepal, Hong Kong, Qatar, and Kuwait participating. Nepal will start the tournament by playing against Qatar, followed by a match against Kuwait on April 10, and their final match against Hong Kong on April 12.
In the league phase, all teams will compete against each other. Afterwards, the top two teams will compete for the title, while the bottom two teams will play for third place. On Friday, CAN called up the following players for the closed training camp: Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel, Kushal Bhurtel, Asif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Kiran Thagunna, Lokesh Bam, Basir Ahmad, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Jora, Nandan Yadav, Rijan Dhakal, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Arjun Gharti, Kushal Malla, Rupesh Singh, Dipendra Rawat, Shahab Alam, and Bibek Yadav.
CAN appointed the experienced Australian Stuart Law as the head coach of the Nepal national men's cricket team, signing a two-year contract.
After CAN chose not to renew the contract with Indian coach Monty Desai, the Nepal team went without a head coach for some time. Desai's two-year contract ended in January.
On February 15, CAN called for applications for the head coach position. They received a total of 70 applications, including those from former coaches who had previously managed the Nepal national team. After shortlisting 10 candidates and conducting interviews, CAN appointed Australia's Stuart Law as the head coach.
Newly-appointed coach Law was a member of the Australian team that finished as runners-up in the 1996 World Cup. He has since coached Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies, Afghanistan, Bangladesh U-19, and the United States. Law has played 54 One Day Internationals and one Test match for Australia.