Kathmandu, November 9

With just two weeks to go for the ACC Women’s Asia Cup, the Nepali team is starting its training from Thursday.

The tournament is slated for November 26 to December 4 at the Terdthai Cricket Ground in Bangkok. Nepal will travel to Thailand on November 24 and take on Pakistan on November 26.

The closed camp training was delayed due to the confusion over who will take the responsibilities as Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Coach Raju Basnyat said the training was possible after the Asian Cricket Council agreed to take all the responsibilities and the Asian body said it would appoint a local coordinator for the team’s preparations.

“We are starting the training from Thursday and the team will leave for Thailand two days before the event,” said Basnyat. He said the delay would not make much difference in preparation as the team players were in good shape. “They played six matches in Hong Kong during their ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers of Asia Region from October 7-16.”

Basnyat said a total of 18 players have been called up for the training. Among them 14 players are the members of the team that played in the World Cup Qualifier and four players are those who were in reserve list for the qualifiers.

Rubina Chhetri, Sita Rana Magar, Kajol Shrestha, Nary Thapa Magar, Neera Rajopadhyay, Roshani Bohara, Sabnam Rai, Indu Barma, Jyoti Pandey, Saraswati Chaudhary, Rashmi Sharma, Nirmala Shahi, Karuna Bhandari and Sarita Magar were in the final squad that finished runners-up in the qualifiers in Hong Kong and booked the berth in the Asia Cup.

Similarly, Sobha Ale, Laxmi Chaudhary, Sangita Rai and Anuradha Chaudhary were in alternate list.

A total of six teams, including Test nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as hosts Thailand and Nepal, are taking part in the tournament which will be played under Twenty20 format.

Nepal will play against Sri Lanka on November 28 and face Bangladesh the following day.

The Nepali women’s team will take on Thailand on December 1 before facing India the next day. The final of the tournament is slated for December 4.