Nepali U-19 cricket team is all set to fly to the UAE on Thursday with an expectation of knocking down teams from Test nations in the ACC U-19 Asia Cup, where it is slated in the same group with India, Pakistan and the host.
Captain Bhuwan Karki said that his team would not play any match as an underdog and could upset any team in the tournament that starts from December 28 and ends on January 4.
“We respect every opponent but we are also not underdog. We can upset any team,” said Karki. “We will try to emulate the recent success of the national team,” he added.
Karki claimed that his team is a well-balanced team. “We have talented players and what we lack is experience,” said Karki. “However, we have practiced match scenarios and played some practice matches during the training,” he added.
Coach Junga Bahadur Thapa said that his team has high morale and the boys are emotionally charged up to do good.
“We have strong batting line-up and boys are good in fielding. If bowlers maintain discipline of line and length, we can produce some good results,” said Thapa. “We are not afraid of any team,” he added.
Captain Karki said that preparation of the U-19 was overshadowed by the success and preparation of national team. “I’ve been motivating boys to do well by saying that we can also get equal name and fame as our seniors if we play good cricket,” said Karki.
U-19 team with National Sports Council Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama. (Photo courtesy: NSC)
National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) President Tanka Angbuhang handed over a national flag to the captain and coach during a farewell program on Wednesday.
“Following the recent success of the national team, people have very high expectation from every cricket team,” said Lama addressing the U-19 team. “You are the future of Nepali cricket and your performance shows what would be the future scenario,” he added.
Lama said that the U-19 players have to perform well to knock the doors of the national team. He also promised that NSC would provide incentives to the young players if they do well in the UAE.
Bhari, Singh in the team
CAN has called spinner Susan Bhari in the U-19 team as a replacement of Sompal Kami, who was included in the national team for the upcoming ICC World Cup Qualifiers. Meanwhile, Rahul Pratap Singh replaced injured Sushil Kandel in the team.
“Sompal and Avinash Karn are called in the national squad. The team would have been much stronger if they were in the team,” said coach Thapa. “However, I’ve faith on Lalit Singh Bhandari and Ram Naresh Giri of bowling well,” he added.
The coach has considered Sunil Dhamala and Amit Shrestha as the opening batsmen of the team.
Previous records
This is the second time Nepal has been playing the ACC U-19 Asia Cup. Nepal had crashed out from the group stage in the last edition of the tournament held in Malaysia in 2012.
Nepal had suffered an eight-wicket loss to Pakistan and an 81-run loss to India. Nepal had defeated Malaysia by 107 runs.