By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – The Nepal National Cricket Team began training under Monty Desai for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 commencing on the 14th of February at TU Cricket Ground.
The former Batting coach of the West Indies Cricket Team – Desai landed in Nepal on Saturday and took charge of the Nepal National Cricket Team a day after his arrival. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) is all set to appoint Desai as the new head coach of the National Cricket Team.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has given the green signal to CAN to appoint Desai as the Head Coach. However, the CAN is yet to receive the approval of the Nepal Sports Council (NSC) due to which the appointment of Desai is getting delayed.
On his first day at the job, Desai had a quick chat with his players. He then made some players undergo a YoYo test. Moreover, batters and bowlers trained in a net. Skipper Rohit Paudel briefed Desai regarding the team and players.
The CAN on a day before Desai’s arrival (Friday) announced the preliminary squad for the Nepal-Namibia-Scotland Tri Series. Nepal will host the tri-series to be held on February 14 to 21 at TU Cricket Ground. Namibia and Scotland will visit Nepal to compete in a series under ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2.
Nepal stands second from the bottom in the competition points table with 18 points from 24 matches. Nepal won 8, drew 1, lost 14, and shared points in 1 match as the match was abrupted by rain.
While Scotland is at the top of the table with 46 points from 32 matches, Namibia stands third with 37 points from 30 matches.
Nepal’s Fixture:
February 14: Nepal VS Namibia
February 17: Nepal VS Scotland
February 18: Nepal VS Namibia
February 21: Nepal VS Scotland
Preliminary Squad:
Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Gyanendra Malla, Rohit Paudel, Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Gulsan Jha, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Sharad Vesawkar, Lalit Rajbanshi, Binod Bhandari, Sagar Dhakal, Sundeep Jora, Kishor Mahato, Kamal Singh Airee, Siddhant Lohani, Arjun Saud, Abinash Bohara, Surya Tamang, Bibek Yadav, Bhim Sharki, Kushal Malla, Mausam Dhakal, Anil Sah, Bikram Sob, Bhuvan Karki, and Ankit Subedi