The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) on May 1 revealed Nepal’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2024.
Rohit Paudel will lead the 15-man squad in the mega event, which is set to be played in the West Indies and the USA from June 2–30, this year.
Nepal is set to compete in the T20 World Cup after ten long years. This is Nepal’s second participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with their last appearance dating back to 2014, which was held in Bangladesh.
Nepal secured victories against Hong Kong and Afghanistan but suffered a loss to Bangladesh. Despite their wins, they couldn’t advance to the next round due to a lower Net Run Rate.
During that period, Nepal cricket experienced a peak moment. The whole country celebrated it like a festival, leading to a significant boost in cricket’s popularity. Many youngsters were motivated to take up cricket, and several current national players mention that the success of that period sparked their dreams of becoming professional cricketers.
Sompal Kami is the only player from the newly announced squad who was also part of the historic 2014 team. Binod Bhandari, who was in the 2014 squad, played in the qualifying tournament that secured a spot in the mega event but didn’t make it into the final squad.
Nepal’s 2014 T20 World Cup squad is referred to as the most iconic squad of all time. So how Nepal’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2014 looked like:
Paras Khadka captained the side having legendary figures like Gyanendra Malla, Sharad Vesawakar, Shakti Gauchan and Basant Regmi. Here’s the full squad:
Paras Khadka (c), Gyanendra Malla (vc), Binod Bhandari (wk), Subash Khakurel, Sharad Vesawakr, Pradeep Airee, Anil Mandal, Naresh Budhayer, Sagar Pun, Sompal Kami, Jitendra Mukhiya, Shakti Gauchan, Basant Regmi, Amrit Bhattarai, Rahul Vishwakarma (** Avinash Karn and Prithu Banskota were out injured **)
WK Batters – Binod Bhandari, Subash Khakurel, Pradeep Airee
Batters – Gyanendra Malla, Anil Mandal, Sharad Vesawakar, Naresh Budhayer
Allrounders – Paras Khadka, Sagar Pun
Bowlers (pace) – Sompal Kami, Jitendra Mukhiya, Amrit Bhattarai
Bowlers (spin) – Basant Regmi, Shakti Gauchan, Rahul Vishwakarma
Head Coach – Pubudu Dassanayake
Nepal’s few talking points from the tournament:
- Sharad Vesawakar scored the most runs with 91 runs
- Basanta Regmi picked up the most wickets with 5 wickets
- Subash Khakurel became Nepal’s first half-centurion after scoring a fifty against Afghanistan
- Paras Khadka picked up a wicket in the first ball of the inning against Hong Kong
- Sompal Kami clicked 140 km/h
- Only Gyanendra Malla and Subash Khakurel scored six
- Jitendra Mukhiya’s penultimate over against Afghanistan
- Shakti Gauchan and Jitendra Mukhiya won the POTM award
Nepal’s results in that tournament:
vs Hong Kong – won by 80 runs
vs Bangladesh – lost by 8 wickets
vs Afghanistan – won by 9 runs
Nepal’s squad for T20 World Cup 2024:
Rohit Paudel (c), Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee
