Kathmandu, August 27

The  selection committee today announced the 14-member final squad for the ACC U-19  Eastern Region Cricket Tournament slated for September 8-17 in Malaysia.

Nepali national team head coach Jagat Tamatta and U-19 coach Binod Das finalised the list that included four new faces. The coaches also named Dipendra Singh Airee as the skipper replacing Sandeep Lamichhane, who had led the team in the ICC U-19  World Cup Qualifiers for Asia Region in Singapore in July. Nepal failed to make it to the U-19 World Cup after they finished second behind Afghanistan in the Qualifiers.

Similarly,  Nandan Yadav, Bikram Kumar Bhusal, Sundeep Jora and Sumit Maharjan made the cut in the final squad, while Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Prakash KC, Rijan Dhakal and Aadil Khan — who were in the team that played in the World Cup Qualifiers — faced the axe from the final squad. Rajbanshi, KC and Dhakal, however, have been kept in the list of reserve players along with Kamal Singh Airee.

The selectors retained Sandeep Lamichhane, Mohammad Asif Sheikh,  Sandeep Sunar, Pranit Thapa Magar, Anil Kumar Sah, Pawan Sarraf, Rohit  Kumar Paudel, Kishor Mahato and Shahab Alam.

A total of eight teams are taking part in the ACC U-19 Eastern Region Cricket Tournament. Nepal, Singapore, Thailand and Bhutan  are pitted in Group A, while hosts Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and  Myanmar are in Group B.

Top two teams from both the pools will advance to the semi-finals of the tournament, which will also serve as the selection  for the ACC U-19 Asia Cup. The two finalists will qualify for the Asia Cup to be held in Malaysia later this year.