By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Dev Khanal has been appointed as the new Captain of the Nepal U19 National Cricket Team, as Gulsan Jha, who was previously named captain, is now unavailable due to being included in Nepal’s tour to UAE for a series under the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2. Earlier, Dev captained Nepal in the U-19 Asia Cup last year.
The U19 team head coach Jagat Tamata has replaced Gulsan with pacer Aakash Chand. The team will travel to UAE this evening to compete in the ICC U-19 World Cup Asia Qualifiers. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) bid farewell to the traveling team on Wednesday amidst a program at Nepal Sports Council (NSC) premises.
Dev Khanal, the newly appointed captain, expressed confidence in his team’s ability to qualify for the World Cup after eight years. “We will return home with a World Cup status for the first time in eight years. We learned many things during the close camp, and our team is strong enough to create history,” stated Dev.
Similarly, the team’s head coach, Jagat Tamata, expressed their goal of winning the title and qualifying for the World Cup. “Firstly, I want to congratulate the senior team on their historic victory. Then, I want to thank CAN for trusting me in this role. We will take one game at a time, and every match is like a final for us. Our aim is to return back as champions.”
Additionally, the Member Secretary of NSC Tanka Lal Ghising conveyed his best wishes to the team, expressing confidence that the team will not disappoint and hoping for their return with happiness and pride to the country. “Let’s create history by displaying a magnificent performance,” he added.
NSC Member Secretary Tanka Lal Ghising, CAN President Chatur Bahadur Chand, Treasurer Roshan Bahadur Chand, Acting Secretary Durga Pathak, and others were presented at the program.
UAE will host the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifier with Nepal, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore, and the host UAE competing.
Nepal U19 Travelling Squad:
Aakash Tripathi, Arjun Kumal, Dipak Bohara, Deepak Bohara, Uttam Thapa Magar (Wicketkeeper), Dipak Dumbre (Wicketkeeper), Dipesh Kandel, Hemant Dhami, Durgest Gupta, Aakash Chand, Dev Khanal (Captain), Subash Bhandari, Bishal KC, Milan Bohara
