U-15 cricketers leave for Malaysia; National Championship begins

May 24, 2006
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The Nepali cricket team left for Malaysia on Monday to participate in the ACC U-15 Cup (Elite Group) starting from May 26.

In the new format created by Asian cricket governing body ACC, Nepal is pitted against Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore in Group ‘A’ while Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain are in Group ‘B’. The top four will qualify for the next year’s tournament, while other four will be relegated for the junior level tournament.

Meanwhile, head coach Roy Luke Dias expressed his dissatisfaction over the selection of players. “We did not get enough time to practice for the new version of the game as the selection process was marred due to civil unrest,” he said.

Nepal, who won the under-15 tournament in UAE last year, will play against Malaysia on May 26-27 before taking on Hong Kong (May 29-30) and Singapore (June 1-2).

The Nepali squad is as follows: Prithu Baskota (captain), Sagar Pun, Surendra Bahadur Chand, Santosh Bhatta, Akash Pariyar, Pradeep Ayer, Vivek Dali, Krishna Karki, Ayush Sharma, Binod Lama, Suvendu Pandey, Kabi Khadi, Rochak Bhatta and Prajesh Bahadur Singh, Roy Luke Dias (coach), Suresh Dutta Pandey (assistant coach), Basanta Raj Satyal (manager) and Chatur Bahadur Chand (assistant manager).

In the meantime, four-time champions Region No 1 (Biratnagar) lost miserably to Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) by seven wickets in the inaugural match of the fifth National Cricket Tournament held at the TU Stadium.