Skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel said Nepal is ready to face the challenges from Scotland and Namibia in the Tri-Series under ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League-2 starting from Tuesday.
Nepal will host Scotland in the opening match of the ODI series at TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur. Addressing a pre-match conference held on Monday, Paudel said Nepal had improved a lot after the arrival of Coach Monty Desai.
“Ten days of training from Coach Desai has motivated the team.” The newly appointed Coach Desai also expected a positive result from the skilled Nepali cricketers.
“I have found great cricketing skills in most of the players after I started looking at Nepal,” Coach Desai said. “Right now, I am working on the batting department as Nepali players have batted poorly in the previous international matches.”
With 18 points from 24 matches at the League-2 table, Nepal sits in second last place. Nepal needs a victory in nine of its remaining 12 matches to save the One Day International (ODI) status.
Scotland leads the table with 46 points from 32 matches. Oman trails in second place with 44 points from 36 matches.
Similarly, Namibia is in third place with 37 points from 30 matches. The United States of America (USA) occupy the fourth spot with 35 points from 36 matches and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stands in fifth place with 27 points from 26 matches.
Likewise, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is at the bottom of the league standings with five points from 28 matches. The top three teams from League-II will secure their spot at ICC World Cup Qualifiers to be held in Zimbabwe in July. The top five teams from the league will secure their ODI status.
Scotland’s Coach Shane Burger expected a huge crowd of passionate supporters during the match between Nepal and Scotland on Tuesday. “I am delighted to be in Kathmandu. I am here to maintain the top position in the league.
Nepal has so many supporters who came to the ground to cheer up their team. We will perform well under the huge crowd in the stadium,” Coach Burger said. Namibia’s Coach Johan Rudolph said his team is in Kathmandu with a few senior cricketers who visited Nepal in 2016.
“We still have six matches to play. All the matches are vital for us to move up in the league standings. Facing the host is a tough task for us. Scotland is also the tough competitor for us,” Coach Johan Rudolph said.
Source : TRN,
