Nepali woman cricketers are set to debut in the international arena as Nepal has confirmed its participation in the inaugural ACC Women’s Cricket Tournament scheduled for July later this year.
The tournament featuring China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, UAE and most probably Bangladesh along with Nepal, will be held in Malaysia from July 11 to 17, according to the Asian Cricket Council. Bangladesh is yet to confirm its participation.
“We have confirmed our participation,” Binaya Raj Pandey, the president of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) said. This will be the first-ever international event for the Nepali women cricketers.
According to Pandey, the players will be chosen from the ongoing school-level tournament in Nepalgunj, and from among those practicing hard-ball cricket in Pokhara, Kathmandu and Bhairahawa. “Most probably, we will have enough players for making two teams from which we will select the final team,” he added.
CAN is also planning a short-term closed camp and hoping that as the Nepali male cricketers, the female cricketers will also be able to make impression. “Since most of the teams will be playing their first event, we are hoping good performance,” Pandey said.
Region No 5 Nepalgunj received the Asia Regional Award of the ICC Development Award for the Best Initiatives for Women’s Cricket in December last year for organizing women’s cricket tournaments.
ACC’s Committee for Women head Shubhangi Kulkarni believed the event could be a significant step forward for cricket in Asia.