U19 cricket team off to South Africa for World Cup

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 6: Nepal’s men’s U19 cricket team was bade farewell on Friday as they left for South Africa to participate in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024. 

A 15-men squad, which was announced Thursday night, was bidden farewell by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). 

The World Cup’s warm-up matches begin on January 13 while the group stages will kick off on January 19. 

The squad list shows two changes compared to the 14-men squad for the U19 Asia Cup held in December 2023. Durgesh Thapa is replacing Hemant Dhami, a fast bowler, as he is unavailable due to an injury. All-rounder Dipak Bohora is also enlisted 

in the squad.

Dev Khanal is captaining the team which also includes experienced Gulshan Kumar Jha. Arjun Kumal, Aakash Tripathi, Dipak Prasad Dumre, Dipesh Prasad Kandel, Bishal Bikram KC, Subhash Bhandari, Deepak Bohora, Uttam Rangu Thapa Magar, Bipin Rawal, Tilak Raj Bhandari and Akash Chand are the other players in the squad.

At the farewell function, captain Khanal expressed his confidence in getting positive results. “We got a chance to prepare outside for at least a week. We are all happy about it, and I hope good results will come.” Khanal said that his team is moving forward by learning from the weaknesses in the Asia Cup. “Playing at the World Cup is everyone’s dream, and it was mine too. Whatever happened in the Asia Cup should be set aside, and we should focus on improving our performance in the coming days,” said Khanal.

The squad was training under Coach Jagat Tamata, who is also a former chief coach of the national cricket team, before leaving for South Africa.

According to CAN, the team was flying to South Africa one week before the tournament to train at a high-performance camp until January 12.

Nepal will be playing two warm-up matches on January 13 and 16 against Scotland and West Indies respectively.  

Of the four groups for 16 teams participating in the World Cup, Nepal is placed in Group D with Pakistan, Afghanistan and New Zealand. Nepal’s first group match is against New Zealand on January 21.