Nepal’s Under-17 squad has left for India today (Monday) to take part in the forthcoming Asia Cup cricket tournament to be held from January 13-27 in four cities of India, reports said.
Nepal is in Group A and will take on Malaysia in the first match of the tournament on January 13, the Himalayan Times said. Nepal has another fixture with Qatar on January 14. Both the matches will be played in Vishakhapatnam, a South Indian city.
After the withdrawal of Brunei, Nepal will get a four-day rest before playing in the second round, if they qualify, the daily said.
Nepal need to win both the matches to advance to the second round where they will be joined by Group D winner and Test playing nations India and Pakistan, the daily said, adding, the second round matches will be held in Bangalore.
Kishor Bahadur Singh, member secretary of National Sports Council and Jai Kumar Nath Shah, president of Cricket Association Nepal, bid farewell to the players and wished them luck, the daily said.
The Nepali squad has Paras Khadka and Sarad Vesawker as the captain and vice captain. Other members of the team include Raj Shrestha, Bantu Bataju, Mahesh Chhetri, Deepak Shrestha, Irfan Siddiqui, Diwas Thakuri, Amrit Pokhrel, Dhan Bahadur Chhetri, Pawan Das, Sunil Bista, Antim Thapa and Angel Acharya.