Emerging cricketer Rohit Kumar Paudel was on Friday named the captain of the Nepali U-19 team, a position which he is likely to continue when Nepal launch their ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Asia scheduled for April 10-20 in Malaysia.

Already a senior national team cricketer at the age of 15, Paudel, now 16, will lead the 18-member Nepali team in India as the junior side of the youngest One-Day International nation fine tune their preparations for the Qualifier. Paudel was already expected to lead the U-19 side replacing former captain Aasif Sheikh who led the youth team in two age-group tournaments.

Nepali U-19 head coach Binod Das, prior to the announcement of the final squad, defined why Paudel could be a major pick as a captain. “Rohit is one guy who can go places not only in terms of his skill. He commands respect from the team and handles the situation pretty well. He is the guy to look after for future, even for the national team,” Das said on Friday.

After making his debut for the national team with the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in Namibia last year, Paudel has been a key member for the national team and played a crucial role in Nepal’s elevation as an ODI team. He was also named the Emerging Cricketer of the Year under the NCC-CPAN Awards organised by Cricket Players Association Nepal.

Within a year after he made his debut with the senior side, Paudel became world’s youngest ODI half century scorer which he achieved against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during Nepal’s maiden one-day series triumph in January this year. He was 16 years and 146 days when he slammed a half century to break the records held by Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan’s flamboyant allrounder Shahid Afridi.

Paudel’s arrival as a captain means less responsibility for Sheikh who signalled his arrival into Nepali cricket with a magnificent century in domestic Twenty20 franchise league but has largely been inconsistent. Das wanted to continue his faith on Sheikh with a minimum role.

“Aasif has been around for some time and he has been settling down in his role. We tend to put too much of emphasis on his batting more than his real job. His real job is to keep wickets and he is terrific in doing that. He needs to contribute with the bat as well which I believe he has done so far,” added Das.

Also breaking into the youth team was Kushal Malla who was a revelation during last season’s Everest Premier League while playing for tournament runners-up Bhairahawa Gladiators. Three new national team entrants Pawan Sarraf, Sundeep Jora and Bhim Sharki will add experience in the Nepali side which is leaving for Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.

Others in the 18-member squad include Ravi Kumar Sah, Rit Gautam, Kamal Singh Airee, Rashid Khan, Sagar Dhakal, Abhishek Basnet, Hari Bahadur Chauhan, Pratish GC, Aakash Chand, Surya Tamang, Lokesh Bahadur Bam and Sher Malla.

The final 14-member squad for the U-19 World Cup Asia Qualifier will be announced after the team’s return from India where Nepal will play four practice matches against the age group team of Andhra Pradesh cricket team. Nepal will battle against Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Kuwait and Oman in the Qualifier from where only the top place finishing will make it to the 2020 U-19 World Cup to be held in South Africa.