Rohit Paudel, in great form in the ongoing T20 series against the visiting West Indies A side at home, will lead a familiar-looking Nepal squad at the T20 World Cup, to be played in the West Indies and the USA next month.
From the expanded Nepal squad that is playing the T20s against West Indies - and are 2-1 down after three games - Aarif Sheikh, Bibek Yadav and Aakash Chand have been left out of the 15-man squad for the World Cup. Sandeep Lamichhane, Nepal's best-known T20 cricketer, is currently serving a jail sentence for rape.
In the series against West Indies A, Nepal's preparatory series in the lead up to the World Cup, Nepal won the first game by four wickets courtesy Paudel's 54-ball 112, but they have since lost by ten runs and 76 runs. The last two games of that series will be played on Thursday and Saturday.
The experienced squad includes the likes of Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Sompal Kami and others, as well as Dipendra Singh Airee, who made history last month when he became just the third batter to hit six sixes in an over in a men's T20I. He achieved the feat against Qatar in their ACC Men's Premier Cup match.
At the World Cup, Nepal are in Group D, which also has Bangladesh, Netherlands, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Nepal start their campaign on June 4 against Netherlands in Dallas.
Nepal squad for T20 World Cup 2024
Rohit Paudel (capt), Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee