KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 30
National team head coach Pubudu Dassanayake showed his intent of moving forward in line with with Cricket Association of Nepal regarding senior team's captaincy and said he would respect the board decisions.
Nepali cricket, especially the men's senior team, has been facing a treacherous situation since December 15 after CAN took disciplinary action against four players and removed skipper Gyanendra Malla and vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee from their posts apart from not considering four cricketers in the central contract for the first six months of 2022. CAN also appointed globe-trotting legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane as the new captain.
The cricketing fraternity is divided over the decision and four players - Malla, Airee, Sompal Kami and Kamal Singh Airee - have been adamant in joining the national team camp, which has been already postponed once.
CAN today announced a 30-member preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup Global Qualifiers.
But the four cricketers, who faced actions from CAN, and other few players who have been in the players' side from the beginning, are not expected to join the camp as they have been demanding the CAN to revoke decisions. CAN has already made it clear that it would not step back from its decision regarding skipper's appointment although it was flexible in the matter of central contract.
After a series of meetings with CAN board members and the cricketers, newly-appointed coach Dassanayake made it clear that the governing body was in no mood to take its decisions back. "I talked with CAN officials and also with the cricketers since I landed in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Both sides are firm on their decisions. As a coach I have to respect the board's views and I don't think CAN is going to revoke its decision," said Dassanayake at an interaction.
Dassanayake's statement means Lamichhane, who is currently playing in Australia's Big Bash League, will lead the national team in the Twenty20 World Cup Qualifiers slated for February in Oman.
The selection committee has included the four agitating cricketers along with Sharad Vesawkar, Karan KC, Md Arif Sheikh, Binod Bhandari, Kushal Malla, Kushal Bhurtel, Mohamad Asif Sheikh, Shahab Alam, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sushan Bhari, Pawan Sarraf, Bikram Sob and Bhim Sharki in the preliminary squad. Also, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Pradeep Airee, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Nandan Yadav, Jitendra Kumar Mukhiya, Bibek Kumar Yadav, Saurabh Khanal, Rajesh Pulami Magar, Kishore Mahato, Sagar Dhakal and Hari Shankar Sah have been invited for the camp.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 31, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
