Monty Desai has been officially appointed as the head coach of the Nepal National men’s cricket team on Monday.
Desai, who had already joined the National closed camp for the preparation of the home Tri-series against Namibia and Scotland was awaiting the approval of the Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Council.
The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) made an announcement via social media on Monday after the decision came from the governing body in Nepal.
Mrugng (Monty) Desai, a very experienced high performance coach from India, has been appointed as the head coach of the Nepal National Cricket Team. pic.twitter.com/oEHBQ69yQn
— CAN (@CricketNep) February 6, 2023
“Desai, a very experienced high-performance coach from India, has been appointed as the head coach of Nepal,” said a statement published by CAN.
“It is with honour and excitement that I have accepted the position of Head Coach for the Cricket Association of Nepal,” Desai said on his appointment as a Head Coach of Nepal.
The Cricket Association of Nepal opened the vacancy on the first week of January 2023 after Manoj Prabhakar resigned from the role on December 15 2022.
Monty was appointed by CAN several days ago. However, the official decision from National Sports Council (NSC) was yet to confirm. Monty has already joined the national team’s closed camp for the preparation of the Tri-Series against Namibia and Scotland.
Desai has good knowledge of Nepal cricket, having worked as worked with the Nepal national team for the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers. He also worked as the batting consultant of Nepal’s U-19 side for the ACC U-19 Eastern Region cricket tournament back in 2017.
Desai signed a two-year contract with West Indies at the end of 2019 as a batting coach. He has had coaching experience with Afghanistan, Canada, UAE and IPL teams Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Lions, apart from other regional squads in India and Canada. He was Afghanistan’s batting coach when they won the World Cup 2019 Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
After the end of Jagat Tamata’s tenure in 2019, four coaches have served as Nepal’s national cricket head coach. Nepal’s performance has been below average lately, as the former coach, Manoj Prabhakar, only worked for four months.
Nepal are all set to host Namibia and Scotland in the seventh Tri Series of ICC CWC League Two. Having 18 points from 24 matches, Nepal are in the second position from the bottom. Nepal needs to finish in the top five to save their ODI status, and they will probably need nine wins from the remaining 12 fixtures. Nepal’s next series is also on home soil against PNG and UAE. Meanwhile, Nepal will tour PNG for their last series.
