KATHMANDU: Opener Paresh Lohani has withdrawn from the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division-V Tournament camp that began at the TU Stadium from Sunday.

Lohani — who has served as the national team opener since making his debut in 2000 during the third ACC Trophy held in the UAE — had informed his decision to the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) citing personal reasons. “I will not be available for the event and so I have requested the cricket governing body for a permission to stay out of the camp,” Lohani told The Himalayan Times.

Lohani, the first player to score back-to-back centuries in the domestic circuit during the Jay Trophy in 1999, is the leading international runs scorer in the three-day and one-day tournaments. He has scored 824 runs in 28 innings including two centuries (against Singapore in 2005) and as many half centuries at an average of 31.69 in the 15 three-day matches. Playing as a middle-order batsman for Kathmandu, Lohani struck a century in the 16th Jay Trophy final against Kapilvastu and returned to score another 100 in the first match of the 17th Jay Trophy against Chitwan.

In the 44 limited-over matches he played for the country, Lohani has scored 811 runs — including two half centuries with the highest score of 81 — at an average of 20.27. In national tournaments, Lohani is second highest run-getter behind Mehboob Alam by just 54 runs. He has scored 582 runs including five 50s in 25 matches.

CAN President Binay Raj Pandey said they have granted Lohani the permission to stay out. The cricket governing body, meanwhile, is planning to fill in the gap with allrouder Sharad Vesawkar in the camp. “Sharad was not included in the final 18 due to the health reasons and we are considering calling him provided the player proves his fitness,” said Pandey, who clarified that the CAN was not taking in Sharad because Paresh was leaving the camp. CAN have already submitted the list of 18 players to the ICC but Pandey said replacing Paresh Lohani with another player would not be a problem.

Nepal are preparing for the WCL Division-V tournament — the first step towards the 2015 World Cup — slated for February 20-30 in Kathmandu. The top two teams among the six countries — Nepal, USA, Jersey, Fiji, Bahrain and Singapore — will advance to the Division-IV tournament to be held in Italy.

Nepal finished third behind Afghanistan and the UAE in the WCL Division-V tournament held in Jersey in 2008.