Cricket Association Nepal (CAN) Monday announced a 14-member team under the captaincy of Shakti Gauchan for the Under-19 World Cup to be held from February 15 to March 5 in Bangladesh.

Altogether 16 countries are participating in the tournament, which includes 10 test-playing nations, five teams selected from different continents and Kenya.

Nepal got the entry in the world cup because of their performance in the Youth Asia Cup. The team is flying to Bangladesh on February 8.

Talking to Nepalnews, team manager and vice president of CAN, Tarani Bikaram Rana said, “Looking at the preparation of the team, we are quite confident that the team will leave its mark in the tournament.”

Rana further said the team has been undergoing camp-training for the last couple of months and also had training from the Sri Lankan coaches like Rumesh Ratnayke and Roy Dias. He also informed that the team will play five friendly matches against the host country Bangladesh.

The team to be led by Gauchan will have Manoj Katuwal as the Wicket Keeper. Other members of the team include Manjit Shrestha, Divesh Khatri, Sashi Keshari, Paras Khadka, Yeshwant Subedi, Kanishka Chaugain, Ratan Rauniyar, Lakpa Lama, Raj Shrestha, Munik Shrestha, Basanta Regmi and Sharad Vesawakar.

Pramod Basnet, Prem Chaudhary, Irfan Siddique and Mahesh Chhetri are substitutes.

Tarani Bikram Rana (team manager), Upendra Bhattarai (official), Roy Dias and Mahesh Rijal (coaches) will be accompanying the team. nepalnews.com rs Jan 26 04