Lohani, who played two matches for Nepal in the age-group tournament, which he did against the United Arab Emirates and India during the 2014 ACC U-19 Asia Cup, had impressed coach Pubudu Dassanayake during the recently concluded One Day National Cricket Tournament while playing for Region 1 (Biratnagar).

The 20-year old Lohani, capable of playing unorthodox shots, has modeled his game on South African skipper AB de Villiers and is able to play shots at all corner of the ground. “He is an exciting talent,” Dassanayake told The Kathmandu Post from Dharamshala, where the national cricket team is currently undergoing preparation for the World Twenty20 Qualifiers.

“He is a natural player. We are hopeful that he will get exposure playing in a pressure-situation games,” added the coach referring to the upcoming eight matches Nepal will play in Europe before embarking on their journey for the Qualifiers. The squad also includes Rajesh Pulami Magar who, like Lohani, has played just one Twenty20—against Hong Kong—for the national team.

Right-arm seamer Mukhiya last played for Nepal in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 but went to lose further tournaments due to hip injury and typhoid. Airee, along with Mukhiya, was named in the 17th Asian Games squad but didn’t feature in any of the three games that Nepal played in Incheon, South Korea.

Mandal’s last appearance for the national team in the shorter version of the game was the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers third place playoff. He was included in the 2014 World Twenty20 squad but didn’t make a single appearance in Bangladesh. His last match for the national team was the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier seventh place playoff against the Netherlands.

Emerging seamer Karan KC has been retained following his fine performance in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in Namibia. Other members in the squad included skipper Paras Khadka, vice-captain Gyanendra Malla, Subash Khakurel, Sompal Kami, Shakti Gauchan, Binod Bhandari, Sagar Pun, Sharad Vesawkar and Basanta Regmi.

Prithu Baskota, on a comeback trail after being sidelined from the 2015 World Cup Qualifier, has been kept in reserves alongside Mehboob Alam, Bhuwan Karki and Avinash Karn. Hari Shankar Sah, Mahesh Chhetri and Saurav Khanal were axed out.

CAN hires Desai as consultant coach

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) on Wednesday confirmed that it has appointed India’s Monty Desai as batting consultant for Nepal’s ICC World Twenty20 qualifying campaign that runs from July 9-27 in Ireland and Scotland. Desai, a former coach with Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals, played a leading role in providing veteran left-arm orthodox bowler Shakti Gauchan an exposure in the Rajasthan Royals training camp in 2012. He has been assisting Nepal in their India tours on different time frame. CAN also appointed Binod Das as the bowling coach, while Chhumbi Lama was named the team manager for the Qualifiers. CAN Acting President Deepak Koirala will leave with Nepali squad in Europe as team leader.