The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and the National Sports Council (NSC) bid adieu to Nepal’s U-19 Cricket Team on Wednesday. The team are off to United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the U-19 World Cup qualifiers.
CAN president Chatur Bahadur Chand and NSC Member Secretary Tankalal Ghising were present in the farewell program and wished the best to the youth side. “Hopefully, you are motivated and energized with the National team’s performance. Create history and make your country proud”, Ghising added. U-19 team’s head coach Jagat Tamata said, “The target is to win the tournament and play World Cup.”
Moreover, Dev Khanal has been appointed as the skipper of the U-19 team, as Gulshan Jha will stay with the national team to play CWC League 2. Dev captained the youth side in last season’s U-19 Asia Cup. Meanwhile, Akash Chand has replaced Gulshan Jha on the U-19 side. The speedster plays for Tribhuwan Army in the domestic tournament. He picked up 15 wickets to help Far West clinch the national u-19 tournament.
The U-19 World Cup Asia Qualifiers is set to be played in UAE, with the winner confirming the spot in U-19 World Cup 2024 in Sri Lanka. Nepal, UAE, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia and Singapore will battle in the tournament. Nepal will face Singapore on 24th February, followed by a match against Kuwait on 25th February. After a one-day break, Nepal will battle against Hong Kong and Malaysia on the 27th and 28th of February. Nepal is set to play the final match against UAE on March 2.
Nepal’s Squad: Dev Khanal (C), Arjun Kumal, Dipesh Kandel, Bishal Bikram Kc, Durgesh Gupta, Dipak Bohara, Deepak Bohara, Uttam Thapa Magar, Dipak Dumre, Hemant Dhami, Subash Bhandari, Milan Bohara, Aakash Tripathi, Akash Chand.
Reserve: Tul Bahadur Thapa, Prajwal Thapa, Nirmal Thapa, Rajesh Yadav
