Nepal, currently preparing for the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, is set to play an international T20I series against the United Arab Emirates ahead of the tournament.
The two-match series between Nepal and the UAE will be held on Baisakh 7 and 8 at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. According to the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), all preparations for the series have been completed. The matches will be played under floodlights.
This will mark the first-ever international cricket competition in Nepal to be played under floodlights at night. Previously, CAN had conducted the Nepal Premier League (NPL) at the same venue under lights.
For the first time, CAN has appointed a separate captain for the T20 format. Deependra Singh Airee will lead the team in the T20I series against the UAE. Regular captain Rohit Kumar Paudel has been rested for workload management, and Airee has been given responsibility for the T20 squad.
The squad includes captain Airee along with Sandeep Lamichhane, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Sandeep Jora, Aarif Sheikh, Basir Ahmed, Gulshan Jha, Lokesh Bam, Nandan Yadav, Santosh Yadav, Arjun Saud, Hemant Dhami, Shahab Alam, and Sher Malla. Pratis GC, Narayan Joshi, and Rashid Khan have been named as standby players.
Following this series, Nepal will host ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 matches at home from Baisakh 12 to 22 against Oman and the UAE, and from Baisakh 29 to Jestha 8 against the USA and Scotland.
The Nepal–Oman–UAE series had previously been postponed due to tensions in the Gulf region caused by the conflict between the United States and Iran.
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