Sports
Nepal to play India in opener
Nepal will meet India in their first match of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup as the fixtures for the age group tournament of sub-continent region was unveiled on Saturday.Nepal will meet India in their first match of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup as the fixtures for the age group tournament of sub-continent region was unveiled on Saturday.
The U-19 Asia Cup, a premier tournament for junior cricketers of Asia, begins from September 29 to October 7 in Bangladesh where eight teams will battle it out for the title. Nepal have been pitted in Group ‘A’ alongside Asian giants India, defending champions Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates who are the winners of the ACC U-19 Western Region tournament.
Nepal made it to the tournament after winning the ACC U-19 Eastern Region Tournament where Hong Kong had ended up second. Nepal will kick off their campaign with the match against India at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) 3 on September 29 and will meet Afghanistan in their second match at the BKSP 4 on October 1. The next day they will play the UAE to wrap up the league campaign.
The two teams from each pool will make it to the semi-finals. Hosts Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in the other side of the draw.
The Nepali team is currently fine tuning their preparations for the tournament in a Quadrangular U-19 One Day Series in Lucknow, India. The four-team Quadrangular U-19 Series consists of Nepal, India U-19 ‘A’ and ‘B’ and Afghanistan U-19 side. Nepal and Afghanistan are both out of the final race after they lost their first two matches.
The Nepali team is scheduled to play its last league match of the series against Afghanistan on Sunday before the two sides meet again in the third place playoff on Tuesday. India ‘A’ and India ‘B’, who play each other on Sunday, will meet in the final, also on Tuesday.
The ACC U-19 Asia Cup will give Nepal another opportunity to emulate their success last year in Malaysia where the team reached the semi-finals for the very first time.
In doing so, Nepal had stunned India in their cricket history in any format or age group of the game. Afghanistan had stunned Pakistan in the final to claim their first ever title.
Former national and U-19 team skipper Binod Das is currently looking after the junior team which is led by Aasif Sheikh. Das has been looking after the U-19 side
Fixtures
Sept 29 vs India BKSP3
Oct 1 vs Afghansitan BKSP4
Oct 2 vs UAE BKSP4