Kushal Bhurtel has come in as a new face as the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) announced the final 14-member squad for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers slated for October 14-23 in Malaysia.

Bhurtel replaced Aashish Dhami from the squad that participated in the recently concluded ACC U-19 Premier—also in Malaysia—where Nepal had finished second behind Afghanistan. Rest of the members from the squad were retained with Raju Rijal named the skipper. The other members playing the crucial tournament for the young cricketers are Aarif Sheikh (vice-captain), Dipendra Airee, Saurav Khanal, Shankar Rana, Sandeep Sunar, Sunil Dhamala, Yogendra Karki, Dipesh Shrestha, Sushil Kandel, Prem Tamang, Rajbir Singh and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi.

Kamal Airee, Himanshu Dutta and Sandeep Lamichhane have been named reserves along with Dhami. Left-handed batsman Dhami had played just two matches in the U-19 Premier making 34 (against Malaysia) and four (against Kuwait).

Nepal coach Jagat Tamatta said Dhami had to be dropped from the team because he was not able to give his 100 percent. “Aashish has not been able to perform during the training and we were in a look out to strengthen our middle order. So Kushal was the best option for us,” said Tamatta.

Nepal are lined up against Papua New Guinea (PNG), Ireland, Uganda and United States of America from where only the winners of the tournament after the round robin league make it to the 2016 ICC Under-19 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh.

Nepal will begin their campaign with the match against PNG at the Kinrara Oval. The World Qualifier is a second opportunity for the five teams who had finished second in their regional U-19 tournaments from where the winners directly made it to the tournament proper. Afghanistan (Asia), Canada (Americas), Fiji (East-Asia Pacific), Namibia (Africa) and Scotland (Europe) have already qualified for the finals after winning their regional tournaments.

Nepal to fine-tune in Delhi

Nepal will fine-tune their preparations for the upcoming ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers with 15-day training in New Delhi from September 26 to October 9. Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) Chief Executive Officer Bhawana Ghimire said Nepal will play a total of seven matches against the local age-group teams and clubs. Board of Control for Cricket in India will bear Nepal’s all expenses in New Delhi. (PR)