Kathmandu: New head coach of the Nepali national cricket team Manoj Prabhakar said that the Nepali cricketers are ready for Kenya tour. The Nepali team is a young side with good abilities and I hope there will be good performance in the tour to Kenya, he said.
The Nepali cricket team is playing five T-20 internationals and three one-day matches in Kenya. This will also be head coach Prabhakar’s first assignment with the national team.
National cricket team captain Sandeep Lamichhane also expressed his belief that the visit to Kenya would bring results as expected. He said the arrival of head coach Prabhakar has added energy and enthusiasm to the Nepali team.
Nepal will start the series in Kenya by playing the first T-20 match on August 25. Similarly, the second T20 will be played on August 26 and the third on August 28. The fourth T20 will be played on August 29 and the last T20 will be played on August 30. Among the three ODI matches, Nepal will play the first on September 2, the second match on September 3 and the third and final ODI match of the series on September 5.
Meanwhile, President of the Cricket Association of Nepal Chatur Bahadur Chand said newly appointed coach Prabhakar was a successful player of his time and expressed his belief that he would take the Nepali team to a higher level. Winning matches against Kenya would also help improve the rankings of the country.
Vice-captain of the national cricket team, Rohit Paudel, lauded the new coach for the team being able to focus on the basics in the training, which he said was very important especially in ODI matches.
Along with captain Lamichhane and vice-captain Paudel other members of the team are Asif Sheikh, Arif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Aeyri, Dev Khanal, Adil Ansari, Karan KC, Gyanendra Malla, Sompal Kami, Basir Ahmed, Arjun Saud, Pawan Saraf, Sahab Alam, Kishore Mahato and Bivek Yadav.
Similarly, Jitendra Mukhia, Bhim Sarki, Pratish GC and Hari Shankar Shah are the reserve players.