International Cricket Council (ICC) has selected Nepal for the World Cricket League Division V, the bottom-most qualifying tournament for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
The ICC Development Committee meeting in Uganda on December 5-6 selected Nepal along with Singapore and Jersey for the event. The three countries join Afghanistan, Cook Islands, Argentina, Botswana and Norway in the tournament scheduled for April/June in 2007.
The two finalists of Division V qualify for the Division IV; and the finalists of Division IV will qualify for Division III and the finalists for Division III qualify for the 12-team Division II event. Six top teams of Division II will then have the bumper prize of playing the 2011 World Cup.
Nepal had missed the qualification for the Division II and Division V after finishing fourth in the ACC Trophy 2006 in Malaysia. Hong Kong qualified for Division II and Afghanistan for V as the second and third ranked team from the ACC Trophy.
The three spots were reserved for the three next top ranked team to be decided by ICC Development Committee headed by ICC CEO Malcomm Speed. In the last meeting of Asian Cricket Council Development Committee, ACC had promised Nepal to push for the selection, according to Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) president Binaya Raj Pandey who participated in the meeting.
Nepal’s national captain Binod Das expressed happiness over Nepal’s selection. “Though the road is tough, it’s still possible to qualify for the World Cup and every player of Nepali national team will try their best to bring the honor to the country,” he said.