International Cricket Council (ICC) has named three Nepali umpires to officiate matches of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 6 tournament in Singapore.
Buddhi Bahadur Pradhan, Binaya Jha and Sanjay Gurung will officiate in the tournament that is a part of the 2015 World Cup with top two teams moving to Division 5 to be held in Nepal January next year. The Division 6 is scheduled from August 29 to September 5.
Hosts Singapore, Botswana, Norway, Malaysia, Bahrain and Guernsey are competing in the tournament. The latter two are the team promoted from WCL Division 7 playing in May.
Umpire Jha said: “ICC selected Nepali umpires as per Asian Cricket Council´s recommendation. ACC was always confident about our capabilities, now we have to prove to ICC that we are capable.”
Along with Jha, Pradhan and Manohar Adhikari are ICC-affiliated associate Asia Panel umpires. Pradhan, who is also ICC-affiliated International panel umpire, has umpired 13 one-day international matches.
“This is an historic moment for me.” Gurung said adding that he aimed to enter ICC Associate panel.