Four players added to squad against WIndies ‘A’

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Apr. 27: The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has expanded the 16-member squad selected for the five-match T20 series against West Indies ‘A’ to 20-member on Friday.

Four players were added to the squad only a day before the series kicked off. The decision was made public at the pre-match conference.

According to the CAN, Binod Bhandari, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee and Lokesh Bam have been added to the squad. The four players were in the Nepal ‘A’ squad against Ireland Wolves. Moreover, Bhandari is the skipper of Nepal ‘A’.

Against Ireland, Airee had impressed Nepali cricket community with his bowling while Bam showed his capabilities with the bat. The expansion of the squad will reduce the chances to play more matches for several players; however, the CAN is looking forward to select players for a proper squad to represent the country in the T20 World Cup in June. 

Meantime, Nepali cricket team captain Rohit Paudel said the main target of his squad would be to score runs as much as possible against the second tier team of West Indies. During the pre-match conference, he said Nepal’s focus would be to collect as many runs as the pitch at the TU Cricket Ground favours the batting. “We have been struggling in the bowling department especially during the death over. We will try to cover that by scoring as much runs.”

Nepal’s final squad: Rohit Kumar Paudel (C), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Aarif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Dipendra Singh Airee, Kushal Malla, Sundeep Jora, Gulshan Jha, Bibek Yadav, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Aakash Chand, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Abinash Bohara, Pratis GC, Binod Bhandari, Lokesh Bam, Kamal Singh Airee and Sagar Dhakal.