Nepali cricket team off to Kenya for bilateral series

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Aug 23: Captain Sandeep Lamichhane said the Kenya tour would be a significant tour for the Nepali cricket team. 

Nepali men’s cricket team is travelling to the East African nation Kenya for the Bilateral Series starting on August 25. Nepal will be playing five T20I matches and three ODI matches in the series. 

Before leaving for Kenya on Monday, Captain Lamichhane said the Kenya tour would help to measure the level of the Nepali side. 

"The team is a mixture of new and experienced players. All the players are working hard and they are also excited to play under the new coach. I expect as our coach has said that the team will progress gradually. Let’s hope the team can produce a positive result in the coming future.”

Skipper Lamichhane also informed that he would be leaving for the West Indies to play Caribbean Premier League (CPL) after the T20I series in Kenya.

The Kenya tour is the first official international tour of Nepal under newly appointed Coach Manoj Prabhakar. 

Coach Prabhakar takes the tour as an opportunity for the Nepali players to improve their abilities. 

"Team consists mostly of young players. Everyone’s target is to learn and improve performance quickly. They are ready to display good performance. The players will have their real test in Kenya," Coach Prabhakar said.

He also said that the official training of the Nepali team will start from the Kenya tour. 

Giving a farewell to the cricket team, CAN president Chatur Bahadur Chand hoped the tour could uplift Nepal’s ranking before ICC League 2 matches. As the national team could not play due to the monsoon in Nepal, playing in the Kenya tour is a good opportunity. I hope the national team will return home winning the series.” 

Squad: Sandeep Lamichhane (captain), Rohit Paudel (vice-captain), Aasif Sheikh, Aarif Sheikh (wicketkeeper), Dipendra Singh Airee, Dev Khanal, Aadil Alam, Karan KC, Gyanendra Malla, Sompal Kami, Basir Ahamad, Arjun Saud, Pawan Sarraf, Shab Alam, Kishor Mahato and Bibek Yadav.