Subash Khakurel ended almost a three-year hiatus to break into the national team for Nepal’s upcoming tour of England and most importantly the country’s first ever One-Day International (ODI) Series—against the Netherlands—scheduled for August 1 and 3.

Subash, a right-handed wicket-keeping batsman, last played for Nepal during the ICC World Cricket League Championship matches against Papua New Guinea in November, 2015 at the United Arab Emirates. Initially ignored due to a poor run of form, his comeback trail was blighted by multiple injuries before he finally managed to prove his fitness in the last two domestic tournaments.

Subash had led the CYC Attariya team in the Dhangadhi Premier League and was impressive in the Prime Minister Cup One-Day National cricket tournament where he had slammed a century. His score of 115 against the United States of America in the 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division 4 in Malaysia still remains the highest individual score for Nepal in 50-over cricket.

Nepal take on Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Netherlands in a one-day Triangular Twenty20 tournament at the Lord’s and the two matches will be followed by Nepal’s first ever ODI Series against the Dutch in Amstel-veen. Nepal had earned the coveted ODI status after finishing eighth in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe this year.

Subash’s return to the team could be seen as another experiment for Nepal after watching its top order continuously fail in several tournaments. “He has been a good opener for Nepal in the past, be it national and age-group team. He has worked very hard to come back in the team and has batted with positive body language in the nets,” said national team coach Jagat Tamatta.

“Subash has recovered from all sorts of injuries and we are expecting him to make use of this opportunity in the top order,” added Tamatta. Subash is primed to open the innings with either Gyanendra Malla or emerging cricketer Anil Sah. While Gyanendra himself went through a rough patch due to continuous failures in the top order, Anil is yet to prove himself as an opener.

With only one opening slot left vacant in the national team, Subash’ inclusion meant the exclusion of hard-hitting batsman Binod Bhandari, another former opener Pradeep Airee, young top order batsman Sunil Dhamala and spinner Sushan Bhari Shrestha. All of them have been kept as reserves.

Subash is the only new face in the team from the squad that participated in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in Namibia and World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. Skipper Paras Khadka will lead the side that also includes Basanta Regmi, Dipendra Singh Airee, Karan KC, Lalit Singh Bhandari, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Aarif Sheikh, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Shakti Gauchan, Sharad Vesawkar, Sompal Kami and Sandeep Lamichhane.

Tamatta said Nepal’s tour of Europe was going to be the test for Nepal as they begin a four-year journey as an ODI nation. “The team is a mixture of young and experience cricketers. Our performance will lay a good foundation for us to see where do we stand in terms of competing as an ODI nation,” said Tamatta.

Final squad

Paras Khadka (Capt), Anil Kumar Sah, Basant Regmi, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gyanendra Malla, Karan KC, Lalit Bhandari, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Aarif Sheikh, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shakti Prasad Gauchan, Sharad Vesawkar, Sompal Kami, Subash Khakurel