Nepal has announced the final 14-man squad to play the round 7 matches of the World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) against the UAE.
Nepal will play the round 7 matches of the championship against the UAE on 6th and 8th of December at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Before playing against the UAE, Nepal is also set to play against the USA on 1st of December and against Kenya on 3rd of December.
Dilip Nath, who failed to make it to the squad against championship match against Hong Kong due to back injury, has made a comeback into the squad this time around while veteran spinner Shakti Gauchan, who was out of the squad against Hong Kong due to illness, has also made a comeback into the team. The selection committee comprising ICC Representative Aminul Islam, Captain Paras Khadka and Coach Jagat Tamata announced the 14-man squad.
Siddhant Lohani, Kushal Bhurtel, Jitendra Mukhiya, Anil Kumar Shah, Hasim Ansari and Sushil Kandel who were named in the 20-man squad last week miss out on the final 14. However, Bhurtel, Lohani, Mukhiya and Shah as the Reserve players.
Jitendra Mukhiya who failed to make it to the squad last time against Hong Kong has missed out again while left arm seamer Lalit Singh Bhandari, who was in the squad against the Hong Kong has retained his place.
Nepal 14-man squad :-
1. Paras Khadka (Captain)
2. Gyanendra Malla
3. Sharad Vesawkar
4. Basanta Regmi
5. Sompal Kami
6. Sagar Pun
7. Binod Bhandari
8. Karan K.C
9. Lalit Singh Bhandari
10. Shakti Gauchan
11. Mohammed Aarif Sheikh
12. Dipendra Singh Airee
13. Sandeep Lamichhane
14. Dilip Nath
Reserve Players :-
1. Siddhant Lohani
2. Kushal Bhurtel
3. Jitendra Mukhiya
4. Anil Kumar Shah
Both the matches between the UAE and Nepal will only be played for pride as the results will not affect the out-comings of the championship qualification. Nepal, after gaining only 1 point from the last 2 matches against Hong Kong was relegated to division 2.
ICC World Cricket League Division 2 will be held on February in Namibia. The top 2 teams from Division 2 will qualify through to the ICC world cup qualifiers to be held in Zimbabwe on March, 2018.
