By a Staff Reporter
Three Nepal National Crickets are sure to miss the first match of the Kenya tour starting on Thursday due to visa issues. All-rounder Adil Ansari, spinner Basir Ahamed, and Sahab Alam will miss the first T20I match.
As only 11 players, technical analyst Raman Sivakoti, physio Bikram Neupane and coach Manoj Prabhakar got their visas at the first attempt, they flew to Kenya on Monday. Sompal Kami, Bibek Yadav, Adil Ansari, Basir Ahamed, and Sahab Alam could not travel with the team as they didn’t get visas. Similarly, the Nepali team’s cricket manager Sunil Mahaseth and trainer Abdul Satar also could not travel with the team following the visa issue.
The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) re-applied the visas of seven members on Tuesday. However, Bibek and Sompal got their visas on Tuesday and left for Kenya at 11 am on Wednesday. The rest of the members had also received their visas. But only the manager and trainer will head towards Kenya this evening as per the acting secretary of CAN Prashant Bikram Malla.
The remaining trio will depart on Thursday. Due to this, they will miss the first match. It takes about 16 hours to land in Kenya from Nepal. There is a high possibility that Sompal Kami and Bibek Yadav will also not feature in the first match as they will not get proper rest due to continuous flights.
Squad:
Sandeep Lamichhane (Captain), Rohit Paudel (Vice Captain), Aasif Sheikh (Wicker Keeper), Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Dev Khanal, Aadil Alam, Karan KC, Gyanendra Malla, Sompal Kami, Basir Ahamad, Arjun Saud (Wicket Keeper), Pawan Sarraf, Shahab Alam, Kishor Mahato, Bibek Yadav
Reserves:
Jitendra Mukhiya, Bhim Sharki, Pratish GC, Hari Shankar Shah
Nepal’s schedule for the Kenya tour:
T20i Series:
Nepal VS Kenya – August 25, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – August 26, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – August 28, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – August 29, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – August 30, 2022
One Day Series:
Nepal VS Kenya – September 2, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – September 3, 2022
Nepal VS Kenya – September 5, 2022
