The Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) has unveiled the 28-man preliminary squad for the upcoming triangular one-day series, part of the ICC World Cup League-2, which will be hosted at the Kirtipur ground. The series, which features Nepal, Scotland, and Namibia, will run from February 14 to 21.
Former captain Sandeep Lamichhane will not be included in the starting lineup due to his suspension. CAN has stated that they will appoint a coach for the series, and the approval process has been advanced with the National Sports Council.
Nepal will play their first match of the series against Namibia on the 14th, followed by a match against Scotland on the 17th and two more matches against Namibia and Scotland on the 18th and 21st, respectively.
Nepal is currently ranked 6th in the series with 18 points from 24 matches. Scotland leads the series with 46 points from 32 matches, while Namibia sits in third place with 37 points from 30 matches. The top three teams from the series, which features a total of 36 matches between seven participating teams, will qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Preliminary Squad :
Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Gyanendra Malla, Rohit Poudel, Aarif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sharad Vesawkar, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Binod Bhandari, Sagar Dhakal, Sundeep Jora, Kishore Mahato, Kamal Singh Airee, Siddhant Lohani, Arjun Saud, Surya Tamang, Abinash Bohra, Bivek Yadav, Bhim Sarki, Mausam Dhakal, Kushal Malla, Anil Shah, Bikram Sob, Bhuvan Karki and Ankit Subedi