Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) bade farewell to the National U-25 Cricket Team amidst a function in Capital on Thursday. The team will leave Kathmandu on Friday to take part in first SAARC U-25 Cricket Tournament scheduled to start from 31st of October in Fuvahmulah, Maldives. Nepal will take on Sri Lanka on 31st of October as their first match.
The newly appointed member committee, president Tanka Angbuhang and the member secretary of the National Sports Council Yubaraj Mama attended the ceremony on Thursday as most of the members will be busy with the festival on Friday. President Angbuhang and Lama extended their wishes with the team for their best performance.
“This tournament will help us a lot for the ACC T20. Our aim is to gain some good practice and training from this tournament. This tournament will help me find out more about my boys and their playing skills and help improve it”, said the national coach Pubuddu Dassanayake.
“The training was good. We have tried a lot to improve our batting, which has always been our problem. Hopefully, we can play our best in the tournament. We haven’t forgotten that match against Sri Lanka on the Asiad. We will try to bring that moment back. Playing against test nations India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will certainly improve our level,” added the skipper Paras Khadka.
The 17-member Nepali team comprises of 14 players, a coach, a physio and a manager.
Nepali squad comprises of Paras Khadka(C), Gyanendra Malla(VC), Sarad Veshkwakar, Mahesh Chettri, Anil Mandal, Amrit Bhattarai, Rahul BK, Pradeep Airee, Prithu Baskota, Naresh Budhayer, Binod Bhandari, Krishna Karki, Bhuwan Karki and Avinash Karna. The tournament will run till 7th November.
Nepal will take on Sri Lanka on 31st October, Pakistan on 3rd November and India on 5th November in the group stage matches. The top two teams from each group will head to the semis.
Rajesh KC for Cricnepal
