CWC League 2 begins today

By a Staff reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 15: The Netherlands, Nepal and Namibia are three of the best Associate teams in international cricket and the trio is kicking off the four-year cycle of 24 tri-series under ICC CWC League 2 (2024-2027) on Thursday (February 15).

The trio, who is also playing in the T20 World Cup in June, stressed that they want to start the League 2 campaign with wins.

Speaking at the pre-match conference in Kathmandu on Wednesday evening, Gerhard Erasmus, captain of the Namibian side, said, “We start an interesting four years of cricket ahead. We have trained properly and prepared for this. We will bring Namibian culture to Nepal.”

According to Namibia’s coach Pierre de Bruyn, he is happy returning to Nepal after almost a year. “We are very happy to be back in Nepal. Our group is confident. It is going to be a competitive series between three good teams and we are looking forward to it,” he said.

The Dutch side seemed more confident in the conference as the team was travelling to Nepal after bagging some good wins in the 2023 World Cup.

“We have had success in the one-day format of late and we look to continue the form in the tri-series,” said Scott Edwards, captain of the Netherlands.

Similarly, Ryan Cook, coach of the Dutch team, expressed joy in playing in Nepal. “There will be challenges, but the team has prepared for it. We see the matches against Nepal and Namibia as final touches for our preparation for the T20I World Cup.”

Nevertheless, the Nepali side was the most confident one as the team is formidable on the home soil while playing in front of the home crowd.

“The series against Canada was important for us because we needed a good preparation for the League 2 matches. We did not start the League 2 campaign properly in 2019 due to which we struggled in the final year (2023). This time, we will start League 2 properly and the team is excited about it,” said Rohit Kumar Paudel, captain of the Nepali side.

Stressing how tough the journey of an Associate member in the cricket world is, Nepal’s coach Monty Desai said, “Starting well is important in the league which expands for four years.”

Desai added, “The clean sweep against Canada was a result of work put in place as the domestic tournament helped a lot for preparation. Now, we face two quality sides – Namibia and the Netherlands. Moreover, the Netherlands has been the flag bearer for the Associate members in the World Cups and the competition will be great.”

The three teams are among the eight teams in League 2. The eight teams will face each other in 24 tri-series in four years and the top four teams at the end will progress for the 2027 World Cup qualifiers.

Nepal’s squad amended

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) made public the squad of Nepal to face Namibia and the Netherlands before the bilateral series with Canada.

However, the CAN made some amendments to the earlier squad on Tuesday evening.

When asked about the reason behind the change in the squad in the final moments, coach Desai said, “If the change in the squad is in the interest of the team, it is not a headache but good work.”

As per the final squad, Rohit Kumar Paudel is leading the team comprising Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Anil Kumar Sah, Aarif Sheikh, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Dev Khanal, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Surya Tamang.

Nepal-A team revealed

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), on Wednesday evening, made public the 16-men ‘A’ team of Nepal.

Revealing the 2024 cricketing calendar in January, CAN’s secretary Paras Khadka said, “We are forming our A team. The team will contain out-of-form players, emerging U19 players, new talents and inactive internationals in form. It will allow the players to improve their game and earn a spot in the national men’s team.” After around a month of the declaration, the A team has finally been formed. 

Former national team player and captain Gyanendra Malla and Kalam Ali have been assigned the coaching responsibility for the A team. Malla recently completed the ICC Level 2 coaching course in Singapore as the best among the participants.

Binod Bhandari is making his comeback to international cricket as the captain of the A team. Other players in the squad are Ashutosh Ghiraiya, Arjun Kumal, Bashi Ahmed, Bibek Yadav, Hemant Dhami, Kiran Thagunna, Mayan Yadav, Pratish GC, Rashid Khan, Sagar Dhakal, Shahab Alam, Sundeep Jora, Sher Malla and Sujan Thapaliya.

As per the cricketing calendar, Nepal’s A team will play against Ireland A over a series of 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is either in March or April.