By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Five young cricketers of Nepal including Jyotsnika Marasini have been denied opportunity to compete in the U-19 Women’s World Cup Asia Regional Qualifiers due to age bar. The five players are ineligible to compete in the event because players below 15 years are not allowed to play in that particular age-group tournament.
Other players who have been deprived the opportunity include Tika Shah, Sabitri Dhami, Pratima Shah and Manisha Chaudhary. All of them are ineligible to feature in the tournament due to their underage. Marasini, who is considered at a star player in the making, was declared the best player during the U-19 Women’s National Cricket Championship held in Dhangadhi a few months ago.
Marasini helped Gandaki Province lift the U-19 title thanks to her superb bowling and batting skills. She has left a good impression while playing two PM Cup championships representing the senior team of Gandaki Province. She is a reliable medium pacer as well as a fast bowler. The U-19 team of Nepal will face a great setback in her absence.
Meanwhile, another player Tika Shah was in the team of Province 1 that defeated APF to lift the national championship title two years ago.
“We had requested the ICC to consider the underage players. But the ICC denied our request in the last minute,” said Prashant Bikram Malla, acting secretary of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).
“Earlier, the ICC had told us to submit letter of consent of the parents of those players who were below 15 years. We collected letter of consent of the parents of all the players who were below 15 years. It is not our fault because the ICC denied permission in the eleventh hour,” said Malla.
Nepal along with the UAE, Malaysia, Qatar, China, Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand are competing in the event in the first week of June. The top team will get an opportunity to compete in the 2023 T20 Women’s World Cup to be held in South Africa next year for the first time. This is the first time that the ICC is organizing U-19 Women’s World Cup Championship.
