KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 11

Cricket Association of Nepal today decided to appoint Canadian Pubudu Dassanayake as the national men's team head coach for the second time.

Dassanayake, who is regarded as the most successful coach in Nepal's cricket history, was picked up from among 15 applicants, informed CAN after a board meeting. Dassanayake led Nepal national team to victories in the ICC World Cricket League Division-IV and Division-III apart from guiding the team to maiden T20 World Cup in his four-year stay from 2011-2015.

The post was vacant after Australian Dav Whatmore resigned after serving eight months of his one-year contract in August and CAN invited open applications from interested candidates.

According to CAN, it had shortlisted 15 candidates from 60 applicants and the board endorsed the Sri Lanka-born Dassanayake for the second term. CAN has initially planned to hand a two-year contract to Dassanayake, who will receive a salary of $12,000 per month.

Dassanayake had resigned from the post in October 2015 at a time when CAN was in turmoil and he was not satisfied with the internal conflict within the cricket board. Ministry of Youth and Sports had to come forward to keep Dassanayake with the national team after CAN released him citing financial constraint.

Dassanayake, who will arrive here on December 20, was excited with the appointment. 'There are some new challenges and keeping the One Day International status intact will be the main job apart from trying to have a shot at another World Cup,' said Dassanayake, who came to Nepal in September as Bhairahawa Gladiators coach in the Everest Premier League.

'It's hard to keep balance between ODIs and T20s but we will put up some good plans in place to have continuous success,' he added.

A version of this article appears in the print on December 12, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.