Kathmandu, October 10:

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) today named the 14-man squad for the ACC Premier League Tournament three-day match against Hong Kong to be held at the Tribhuvan University Stadium from October 13-15. The national selection committee under the convenorship of Bijay Kumar Sharma picked up the 14-man squad from the 20 cricketers undergoing the closed camp training. Four players are named as reserve players, meaning wicketkeeper Manoj Vaisya and left arm spinner Raju Basnyat were axed out. Binod Das was retained the skipper while Shakti Gauchan will be his deputy in the this year’s opening match of the tournament, which is the renamed version of the ACC Fast Track Countries’ Tournament.

Other members of the squad include Paresh Lohani, Paras Khadka, Raj Kumar Pradhan, Mehboob Alam, Sharad Vesawkar, Basanta Regmi, Mahesh Chhetri, Sanjam Regmi, Gynanendra Malla, Manoj Katuwal, Amrit Bhattarai and Antim Thapa. Offspinner Regmi and wicketkeeper Katuwal were the late inclusion in the 20-man team. Dhirendra Chand, Prem Chaudhary, Aakash Gupta and Bijay Thapa have been kept in the reserve list. Medium pacer Dhirendra Chand was the biggest casualty as he was ruled out after sustaining back injury during the camp.

Chand, who was the third successful bowler in Nepal’s campaign last year with 10 wickets, suffered the back pain that ruled him out of the 14-man squad. Vice captain Gauchan and offspinner Regmi, however, remain doubtful for the match. Offspinner Regmi suffered finger injury, while allrounder Gauchan has eye problems.