Sports
Pacemen Kami, Karn set to make history
Nepal’s Sompal Kami and Avinash Karn are close to making history for the country by playing first class cricket in a Test-playing country after the fast bowling duo got an invitation from Kalutara Town Club for the upcoming domestic season in the island nation.Adarsha Dhakal
Nepal’s Sompal Kami and Avinash Karn are close to making history for the country by playing first class cricket in a Test-playing country after the fast bowling duo got an invitation from Kalutara Town Club for the upcoming domestic season in the island nation.
Kalutara, who were in the second tier last year, has already decided to recruit Kami and now awaits a confirmation from the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). The two cricketers were invited for the opening round of the season tentatively scheduled from the end of November to February.
Once the move is finalised, Kami and Karn will be the first two cricketers to have played first class cricket in a Test-playing nation leaving behind the achievement of their seniors—skipper Paras Khadka, Gyanendra Malla and Basanta Regmi who had a stint in Canada.
Khadka and Malla previously played for Ontario Cricket Academy and Club, while Regmi represented GTA Challengers Club in Toronto Cricket League that didn’t have first class game.
The three-day matches in Sri Lanka will also be first ever first class games for Nepali cricketers after the country met the Hong Kong in the 2005 Inter-continental Cup match in Kathmandu. Kami and Karn will join Kalutara after Nepal’s ICC World Cricket League Championship match against Papua New Guinea, which is scheduled for November 28 and 30 here at the TU Stadium grounds.
The recruitment will see the two cricketers play six three-day games as well as six each 50-over and Twenty20 matches for the club in the first round. If the club manages to qualify for the second round, six more games in the 50-over and three-day game will be added to their schedule.
While all the expenses for Kami will be borne by the club for the four-month long first round of the season, the fast bowling spearhead will also get match fees for the three-day and 50-over games. Karn, meanwhile, has to rely on Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) for his expenses while in Sri Lanka.
Kami will be in a second stint with Kalutara as he played for the club in February early this year.
Out of the five three-day matches he played for Kalutara in the second tier last season, Kami had impressed the club picking up 37 wickets, one of the best performances by a fast bowler in the tournament.
“Sompal was pretty impressive in his previous appearance with Kalutara and they were very much keen to keep him on board this season as well,” national team coach Pubudu Dassanayake told the Post from his home in Canada, where he is currently in vacation. “Its a great opportunity for our players,” added Dassanayake.
CAN Acting General Secretary Uttam Karmacharya said the cricket governing body will move ahead after it receives an official letter from the Club. “We are ready to send both the cricketers at our expense once we get a letter. The move has been initiated by the coach and we would do the rest once the letter is received,” he added.