Sri Lankan coach of Nepal’s cricket team Roy Luke Dias left for Karachi, Pakistan today to join the rest of the team competing in the third Youth Asia Cup starting from July 14. Nepal are the defending champions.
Dias, who could not fly with rest of the team due to the visa problem last Saturday, departed to Dhaka on a Biman Bangladesh flight. From Dhaka, he will fly to Karachi after four hours of transit stop, according to Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).
On Wednesday, his visa period was extended for two more months. Dias was not allowed to take the flight to Karachi last Saturday due to expiration of his visa.
“It’s all fine now,” said a smiling Dias at the Tribhuvan International Airport. “Except that I will be travelling alone.” Dias expressed happiness on joining the team a few days before the start of the tournament.
“I am worried about the team, but now hope that everything will be fine,” Dias told The Kathmandu Post. “Pray for the good performance of the team.”
Jai Kumar Nath Shah, the CAN president, worked throughout the morning visiting ministries and other offices for the extension of visa. Only with some consideration from the officials of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the extension of the visa was possible, according to CAN treasurer Shahi Raj Subedi.
Dias was staying in Nepal on tourist visa, which will be converted in working visa, after the team return, to avoid repetition of such incidents, assured Subedi.