KATHMANDU: Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) today dropped Sharad Vesawkar from the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division-V tournament slated for Kathmandu in February next year.

Sharad became the only player from the ACC Twenty20 Cup squad not to find a place in the 18-member team. The national selection committee headed by

Arun Aryal called up 13 players from the ACC T20 squad and other five cricketers for the final camp.

Chief selector Aryal said Sharad was dropped from the squad after his dismal performance in the ACC T20 Cup and also because of his health problems. Sharad — who has been suffering from piles — was below par in the UAE scoring just 11 runs in the first three matches before being dropped in the next three matches.

Born in the UAE to a Nepali mother and Indian father, Sharad was first drafted in Nepal’s Under-15 squad in 2002 and made it to the national team in 2004. This is the first time Sharad was dropped from the squad in age-group and national teams.

Paras Khadka — who captained the national team for the first time in the ACC T20 Cup last month — was retained the skipper with Gyanendra Malla as his deputy. Malla is also leading the Nepali U-21 team to the South Asian Games in Bangladesh from January 29 to February 9.

Former skipper Binod Das, who became father on Sunday, Dipendra Chaudhary, Shakti Gauchan, Mehboob Alam, Basanta Regmi, Mahesh Chhetry, Naresh Budhayer, Binod Bhandari, Sanjam Regmi, Amrit Bhattarai, Paresh Lohani, Rahul BK, Subash Khakurel, Prithu Baskota, Dhirendra Chand and Anil Mandal are the other players selected for the camp.

Out of the 18 players named in the Division-V squad, Gyanendra, Naresh, Binod Bhandari, Amrit, Subash, Prithu and Anil are also in the SA Games camp. According to the CAN, both the camps will start in Kathmandu on December 30.