Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) announced the national team for the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 to be held in Kathmandu from February 20 to 27.
Birgunj’s Anil Mandal has been included in the national team for the first time. A slot for opening batsman was empty after experienced Paresh Lohani pulled out of the team citing personal reasons.
Bhairahawa’s spinner Rahul Kumar BK, who last played for national team in 2007, makes a return. ICC has suspended him along with Sagar Khadka during the Youth World Cup in 2007 for suspect action.
“We were informed that Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has found nothing wrong after he improved his action and we selected him,” Arun Aryal, the chief of the national selection committee told Cricket Nepal.
Sharad Vesawkar also makes in the national team. He was not named in the preliminary squad due to his poor health but was asked to submit his health report after Paresh’s pullout. Sharad was then included in the closed-camp training.
Binod Bhandari, who debuted in UAE, continues in the squad after his impressive performance in the ACC T20. His debut innings included a six in the last ball that tied the match against Kuwait.
The committee also entrusted Paras Khadka to lead the team. Paras took over the captaincy from Binod Das for the ACC Twenty20 Cup held in UAE in November, 2009.
Other members of the team are former captain Binod, U-21 captain Gyanendra Malla, Shakti Gauchan, Mehboob Alam, Sanjam Regmi, Dipendra Chaudhary, Basanta Regmi, Mahesh Chhetri and Amrit Bhattarai.
Those named as alternatives are Subash Khakurel, Chandra Saud, Pradeep Airee and Bhuwan Karki.
The United States of America (USA), Jersey, Singapore, Bahrain, Fiji and hosts Nepal are in fray for the event, a gateway to the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Top two teams from the Div 4 will qualify for the Division 4 slated for August in Italy.
The top two teams from Div 4 will earn the tickets to the ICC World Cup Qualifiers scheduled for July-August in Scotland in 2013. The top four teams from the 12-team qualifiers will play in the 2015 World Cup.
Nepal will open their qualifying campaign against Jersey at the Birendra Sainik Awasiya Mahavidhyalaya (BSAM) Ground on February 20.