Nepal U-19 cricket team leaves for Malaysia for ICC U19 Cricket World Cup qualifier
The Nepal U19 national cricket team has left for Malaysia to participate in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Asia (Division 1). The qualifiers are set to be held in Malaysia from April 10 - 18, 2019.
Nepal will lock horns with the UAE, hosts Malaysia, Oman, Singapore, and Kuwait in a single round-robin format. One team from this Asian qualifier will qualify for the main draw of the 2020 U19 World Cup in South Africa.
Rohit Kumar Paudel, the youngest half-centurion in international cricket, will lead the Nepal U19 National Cricket team for the qualifier.
Newly appointed skipper Paudel is confident of the team and said that, “It’s a mixture of experience and youth in the team and qualifying for the ICC U19 World Cup is an achievable target and hopefully we can achieve it”.
The team is coached by former Nepal national cricket team skipper Binod Das. Das has represented Nepal numerous times for previous U-19 World Cups and he is confident and said that, "the team is confident and are ready for the challenge".
Nepal was in Andra Pradesh, India for a 15-days practice tour prior to leaving for Malaysia to participate in the qualifiers.
Coach Binod Das added that the training and coaching in India was important for the team and will be helpful for the qualifier.
Nepal will face Singapore in its opening day of the qualifier on April 12 at UKM Oval.
Squad: Rohit Kumar Paudel (Captain), Avishek Basnet, Bhim Sharki, Hari Bahadur Chauhan, Kamal Singh Airee, Kushal Malla, Asif Sheikh, Pawan Sarraf, Pratis GC, Rasid Khan, Rit Gautam, Sagar Dhakal, Sundeep Jora and Surya Tamang
Reserve Players: Akash Chand, Lokesh Bahadur Bam, Ravi Kumar Sah, Sher Malla
Binod Das is head coach of the team while Raman Shiwakoti is the team manager and Vikram Neupane is physiotherapist of the team.