New Delhi, Aug 5: Nepal has revealed its preliminary squad, to be captained by Rohit Paudel, ahead of next month’s ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series to be played in Canada. The two teams will be joined by Oman as the third side in the tri-series. As per ICC, there are no major surprises in the 22 players selected for the closed training camp, with the majority of the squad coming after playing in 2024 Men's T20 World Cup and the first League 2 tri-series played earlier in the year.
Left arm quick Pratis GC and all-rounder Abinash Bohara miss out on the squad after being with Nepal team for the T20 World Cup, while Pawan Sarraf is out due to injury after he played a part in Nepal's League 2 campaign at the start of the year. The trio not being present for the Canada tour means all rounder Basir Ahamad lands a spot in the preliminary squad after some impressive recent performances for Nepal A, while left-arm pacer Rijan Dhakal, seamer Kamal Singh Airee and young quick Aakash Chand are also included.
Nepal are currently at sixth place in the League 2 standings following one win from four matches from their tri-series at home against Namibia and the Netherlands at the start of the year. Canada had an unbeaten run of four victories coming earlier this year, while Oman are currently in fifth place from four matches.
Preliminary Nepal squad: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Anil Sah, Dev Khanal, Bhim Sarki, Aarif Sheikh, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Arjun Saud, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Gulsan Jha, Kamal Singh Airee, Rijan Dhakal, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Surya Tamang, Basir Ahmed, Akash Chand, Sagar Dhakal, Sandeep Jora.
