Citing the COVID-19 conundrum, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has cancelled Asia Qualifiers for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022.

With this, the Himalayan nation’s dream to play the World Cup has shattered. Along with Nepal, other Asian nations, including  the UAE, Malaysia, Kuwait, Oman, and Singapore lost their chance to appear in the international tournament.

Likewise, the ICC cancelled qualification tournament of America and the East Asia Pacific (EAP).

However, the Council has decided to organize qualifiers of Europe and Africa.

As the American, Asian, and EAP Qualifiers have been cancelled, the ICC has selected the teams based on their performance in the last five World Cup Qualifiers.

Accordingly, the UAE from Asia, Papua New Guinea from the EAP, and Canada from the America have been automatically selected for the World Cup.

Stay Tuned to NepaliSansar for Latest Nepal Cricket News!

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The big news for Nepali cricket fans is that Nepal’s former captain Paras Khadka has been nominated for the prestigious ICC Men’s Associate Player of the Decade.

According to the list released on November 24, six players have been nominated for the accolade. Besides Paras, Callum Macleod (Scotland), Kyle Coetzer (Scotland), Richie Berrington (Scotland), Peter Borren (the Netherlands), and Asad Vala (Papua New Guinea) have been selected.

Let’s take a glance at the various ICC awards for the decade and the players nominated for each category:

? years
? 3711 games
⭐ Countless memories

The #ICCAwards are back, this time with an entire DECADE in focus ?

We’ll be giving away some incredible fan prizes too, so keep your eyes peeled ? pic.twitter.com/7B1UyU6eQa

— ICC (@ICC) November 24, 2020

• ICC Men’s Player of the Decade

Nominees: Virat Kohli (India), Ravichandran Ashwin (India), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Joe Root (England), Steve Smith (Australia), AB de Villiers (South Africa), and Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

• ICC Women’s Player of the Decade

Nominees: Mithali Raj (India), Meg Lanning (Australia), Ellyse Perry (Australia), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies), Suzie Bates (New Zealand), and Sarah Taylor (England)

• ICC Men’s Test Player of the Decade

Nominees: Virat Kohli (India), Steve Smith (Australia), Joe Root (England), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), James Anderson (England), Yasir Shah (Pakistan), and Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)

• ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Decade

Nominees: Virat Kohli (India), Rohit Sharma (India), MS Dhoni (India), Mitchell Starc (Australia), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), and Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

• ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Decade

Nominees: Mithali Raj (India), Jhulan Goswami (India), Ellyse Perry (Australia), Meg Lanning (Australia), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies), and Suzie Bates (New Zealand)

• ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Decade

Nominees: Virat Kohli (India), Rohit Sharma (India), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Aaron Finch (Australia), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Chris Gayle (West Indies), and Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

• ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Decade

Nominees: Meg Lanning (Australia), Ellyse Perry (Australia), Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Alyssa Healy (Australia), Deandra Dottin (West Indies), and Anya Shrubsole (England)

• ICC Women’s Associate Player of the Decade

Nominees: Sornnorin Tippoch (Thailand), Nattakan Chantam (Thailand), Chanida Sutthiruang (Thailand), Sarah Bryce (Scotland), Kathryn Bruce (Scotland), and Sterre Kalis (the Netherlands)

• ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade

Nominees: Virat Kohli (India), MS Dhoni (India), Anya Shrubsole (England), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Katherine Brunt (England), and Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)

The ICC will decide the winners in all ten categories based on the number of public votes a player receives.

Stay Tuned to NepaliSansar for Latest Nepali Cricket News!

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Earlier, the CAN had the details of 22 cricketers and video analyst Raman Siwakoti to the ICC for payment of 2019 salaries and put forth the proposal to increase the salary.

As per CAN guidelines, the cricketers who played for Nepal in 2017 and 2018 were placed in three categories, namely A, B, and C.

The monthly salary details of three categories are as follows

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The ICC has taken the decision during a virtual board meeting on July 20, after four months of monitoring.

The ICC has been exploring contingency plans since hosts Cricket Australia (CA) acknowledged the logistical challenges involved in staging a 16-team tournament amid the pandemic.

“The decision to postpone the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was taken after careful consideration of all of the options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two safe and successful T20 World Cups for fans around the world,” said ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney.

The ICC also announced the schedules for upcoming world cup tournaments

• 2021 T20 World Cup will be held in October-November in India, with the final on November 14
• 2022 T20 World Cup will be held in October-November in Australia, with the final on November 13
• 2023 (50-over) World Cup will be held in October-November in India, with the final on November 26

The ICC has rescheduled the 2023 50-over World Cup in India by six months to allow a longer qualification period.

The postponement of this year’s T20 WC has opened a window for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to stage its delayed Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 competition in the now-vacant October-November slot.

The BCCI is looking to host this year’s IPL in the UAE.

Stay Tuned to Nepali Sansar for the latest and breaking cricket news!

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In the new ranking chart released by ICC on February 15, 2020, Nepal ascended to 16^th position with 237 points and 20 rating against 17^th position in the previous ranking.

The improvement in the ODI rankings is attributed to the 2 wins against the USA in the recently played first-ever homeland tri-series of the ICC World Cup League 2.

The top ODI Rankings are as follows:

• 1^st Position: England (6,967 points, 124 rating)
• 2^nd Position: India (7,939 points, 118 rating)
• 3^rd Position: New Zealand (5,347 points, 116 rating)

However, Nepal remains in 12^th position in the ICC Twenty20 Rankings.

The top T20 Rankings are as follows:

• 1^st Position: Pakistan (8,926 points, 270 rating)
• 2^nd Position: Australia (6,986 points, 269 rating)
• 3^rd Position: England (6,095 points, 265 rating)

In individual rankings, Nepali cricketers have Improved their position in various categories.

Sandeep climbed to 84^th from 85^th position in T20 Bowling Rankings with 390 rating and Karan KC climbed to 74^th from 75^th position in T20 All-Rounder Rankings with 42 rating.

However, Paras Khadka remained at 27^th positing in T20 All-Rounder Rankings with 90 rating and slipped down to 62^nd position in T20 Bating Rankings with 439 rating.

More On Nepal Cricket Stories:

• Nepal All Set for ACC Men’s Eastern Region Thailand T20
• Lamichhane Becomes Nepal’s ‘Highest ODI Wicket Taker’
• Nepal ‘Secures Position’ in Global Qualifiers for T20 WC 2021

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Umesh submitted his resignation letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and forwarded a copy of the resignation to the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).

He will quit the job after the upcoming tri-series between Nepal, the US and Oman.  The tri-series is scheduled from February 5-12, 2020.

Earlier, the ICC had appointed Umesh as the Head Coach of the Nepali National Cricket Team for a contract period of 1 year in May 2019.

However, Umesh is quitting his job 4 months ahead of his tenure. The suspected reasons for his early exit are:

• His differences with CAN board
• His failure to qualify Nepal for T20 World Cup 2020
• ICC’s failure to pay him regularly

The ICC had agreed to pay him USD 7,000 per month during his tenure.

Stay tuned to NepaliSansar for latest and breaking news on Nepali cricket!

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Elections for the CAN – Central Working Committee (CWC) will soon be taking place between September 27-28, 2019.

The elections are being conducted after a meeting, involving the International Cricket Council (ICC), the National Sports Council (NSC) and an independent committee, decided on the reinstatement of Nepal’s cricket association.

ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja and another representative Amar Sheikh met with National Sports Council (NSC) after they arrived in Nepal on September 16, 2019 . They held talks with NSC Member Secretary Ramesh Silwal and the independent committee’s Legal Advisor Rajeshwor Shrestha.

Silwal shared that the meeting parties reached an agreement to conduct the CAN elections in a free, fair and disciplined manner.

The upcoming elections will also pave way for Nepal’s reinstatement in the ICC.

“I am optimistic that upon conclusion of the central elections, the ICC Board will be in a position to consider Nepal’s reinstatement at its October meeting in Sydney,” said ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja in the ICC’s press statement.

The district and provisional elections have been completed in accordance with the CAN constitution and the CWC elections will be held during the CAN Annual General Meeting (AGM) between the given dates.

“I’m glad to note that the CAN district and provincial elections have been concluded and we are at the final stages of conducting the central elections. I am thankful for the NSC’s support in ensuring that elections are conducted in a free and fair manner devoid of any political interference, which is an important prerequisite for the reinstatement of Nepal’s ICC membership”, said ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja.

CAN has been absent for a long time following its dissolvement by the ICC in 2016 owing to factors such as rampant corruption within the association and political interference. Cricket in Nepal received a major hit due to this.

The association’s reinstatement will revive the spirit of the game within Nepal.

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Nepal’s #EPL2018 underwent tough instances before becoming a reality, setting another milestone in the country’s cricket history.

Amid thousands of local cricket fans, the grand finale of EPL 2018 at the TU Cricket Ground emerged as a big hit for Nepali cricket lovers and also drew wide global traction.

EPL 2018 made it to the top of Nepal sports headlines above all such cricket premier leagues held in the country in the recent times, such as Pokhara Premier League (PPL), Dhangadhi Premier League (DPL) and others in Upandehi, Karnali, Banke, Sarlahi, and Rautahat.

Going beyond, the EPL 2018 tournament also proved to the world what Nepal can be if it decides to!

There is no exaggeration in saying this as ‘Nepal undoubtedly stands among the very few world nations that successfully held cricket premier leagues’ till date.

With #EPL2018, Nepal executed something many world nations such as Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, New Zealand, UAE, among others are still struggling to do.

Replacing the inter-provincial T20 setup, Sri Lanka formed its own premier league in 2011 but failed to execute due to various reasons such as organizing failure and lack of sponsorships.

Afghanistan Premier League managed to host at least one recently but is struggling to earn recoveries on the investment made. New Zealand also doesn’t have its own premier league. UAE planned its T20X, but stopped it within months of initial announcement after failing to attract bidders.

Many others such as Ireland and many reputed ODI countries such as Scotland and The Netherlands are also in the list of countries that failed to implement T20 leagues till date.

Considering these aspects, it’s undoubtedly to say that Nepal did a rare feat with its T20 premier leagues in the recent past to the latest #EPL2018.

And, for the first time in Nepal cricket history, EPL 2018 also brought foreign commentators such as Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof, New Zealand current woman international cricketer Frances Mackay, Indian sports broadcaster Navneetha Krishna and Irish commentator Andrew Leonard for live broadcasting of the event, which is being considered as the ‘next-level’ in the local-level telecasting of sports events.

But this success did not come so easily for the Himalayan nation. #EPL2018 underwent months of wait for ICC approvals for execution, among many other inter-organizational and external pressures.

You need to have vision. Year 2016 was all about domestic scene, 2017 was about international flavor, and 2018 was about capitalizing what we did in 2017. Every year we need to graduate. I never believed in the short-cut. It won’t happen anywhere in the world. We have a plan and it is working as expected,” says EPL Managing Director Aamir Akhtar.

Whatever success wipes off hurdles felt…EPL 2018 proved it!

The post Everest Premier League 2018: Nepal Sets New Example for World T20 Leagues! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

ICC has finally given its nod for the Nepal’s big-budget Twenty 20 cricket tournament, the Everest Premier League (EPL) 2018.

Putting an end to EPL 2018 organizers’ months-long wait, the international cricket body gave its approval for holding EPL 2018 that has been scheduled for December 8-22, 2018 at the Tribhuvan University Stadium.

With this approval, EPL 2018 is set to invite international cricketers in its tournament.

ICC has already forwarded the proposal to member countries and global cricketers participating in the tournament are yet to get ‘No Objection’ from their respective countries’ associations.

So far, the EPL board has confirmed the participation of Middlesex’s English wicketkeeper-batsman John Simpson, United Arab Emirates fast-bowler Muhammad Naveed, Hong Kong Skipper Babar Hayat, among others in the upcoming marquee event, besides already-announced cricket stars: Zimbabwean Test player Sikandar Raza and UAE Cricket Team Captain Rohan Mustafa.

“ICC has granted the approval bearing in mind the unique circumstances that currently exist in Nepal and because the league is in the interests of cricket in Nepal and the Nepalese players in particular,” says Clive Hitchcock, ICC Representative at EPL Pvt Ltd.

“This is great news not just for EPL but also for the millions of fans and we are sure that with the support of ICC, EPL will reach greater heights,” says Amir Akhtar, EPL Managing Director.

“EPL would like to thank the fans, players, media and all stakeholders for their continued support. Let’s all work on making this tournament grander,” Akhtar added promising of presenting EPL in the international standards.

The latest decision comes in line with ICC’s new regulations rules, which mandate it to give approval for domestic tournament in a country with cricket board under suspension.

Getting this approval costed USD 20,000 for EPL organizers and ICC extended its commitment to use this sanctioning fee solely for the development of Nepali Cricket.

ICC had earlier suspended Nepal’s cricket administration, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), citing ‘government interference and unfair elections.

EPL 2018 is Nepal’s city-based franchise Twenty20 cricket tournament.

World cricket has taken a different turn in recent times with the change of rules by ICC governing body, enabling more opportunities for the potential cricket-playing nations across the world.

Especially for Nepal, winning of ODI status and recent Pokhara Premier League (PPL) 2018, among other previous cricket events are giving a new ray of hope for the country and its talented cricketers to come to lime-light.

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Nepal’s Cricket History

Cricket was first introduced to Nepal in the 1920s by Lt. Gen. Madan Shumsher JBR, the youngest son of the Rana Prime Minister, Maharaja Chandra Shumsher JBR. Considered as a Gentleman’s sport during that time, the game was limited to the aristocratic Rana family and other elite members of Nepal.  Until the dawn of democracy in 1951, cricket solely belonged to the royals.

The year 1946 saw the formation of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) which was formed as a means to promote the game of Nepal among the aristocrats.

Later in 1961, the Cricket Association of Nepal was made part of the National Sports council with the aim to promote sports in the entire country.

Nepal’s International Titles and Achievements

Nepal’s entry into the ‘big playground’ began with becoming an ‘Affiliate Member’ of the International Cricket Council’ (ICC) in 1988. This triggered a major movement in the country that saw the inception of regional and district tournaments that began in the early 1990s.

The game picked up rapidly winning the interest of the local population in turn increasing its demand.

Nepal’s ties with the ICC strengthened, when it became an ‘Associate Member’ to the latter in 1996. That’s when Nepal played for ACC Trophy in Kuala Lampur, taking cricket for this land-locked country off the home-ground. Nepal beat Brunei and Japan to finish fourth among the six teams that qualified for the first round.

By 1998, Nepal had become self-sufficient to hold a match of international level. The ACC Trophy 1998 was hosted in Lalitpur, Kirtipur and Kathmandu. However, it did not win the tournament.

In 2004, Nepal played its first, ‘first-class cricket’ by playing for the ‘ICC International Cup’ against UAE and Malaysia. It managed to beat Malaysia but got left behind after failing to win the semi-final stage where it had a draw with UAE.

The 2008 ICC World Cup World Cricket League Division Five of the World Cricket League became a memorable year for Nepal when Mehboob Alam set a World Record of taking all ten wickets of the Mozambique team. His name was added to the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first bowler to take 10 wickets in an ICC match.

The year 2010 saw Nepal win its first major tournament against USA in the final round of 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Kathmandu.

Nepal’s performance at the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two in Namibia qualified them for the 2015-17 ICC World Cricket League Championship. They failed to reach the face-off for the finals after they finished third in Division of the 2015 ICC World Cricket League. Although, Basanta Regime’s performance led him to become the first bowler to take 100 wickets in the World Cricket League.

The Current Scenario

Nepal stands second after it played Division Two of the 2018 ICC World Cricket League. This had led The Rhinos to become the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

After defeating Papua New Guinea on March 15, 2018 in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, Nepal won the One Day International (ODI) status for the first time. Also, Nepal has also regained T20 International status.

Nepal now has eyes for the Test status and the Rhinos captain Paras Khadka hopes to achieve it in another eight to ten years.

The Heat-Brawl Over Administration and Good Cricket

Despite Nepal’s tremendous performance in the field of cricket, the country is staggering over the absence of the game’s governing body, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). Following the constant interference of politics in the administration of the game, the ICC had suspended the CAN in 2016.

While Nepal continues to perform fantastically at the international front, the country faces a crisis in terms of funding due to the absence of the CAN. This has badly hit internal matches that take place within the country and that are crucial in bringing out the best of players.

Commenting on the situation, the ex-CEO of the CAN says, “The development of cricket in Nepal is stagnant right now. Presently we have no administrative body as well as no money to run the game. Quite obviously, it has had a direct impact on our domestic cricket. Apart from a few privately-run tournaments, there hasn’t been any cricket in the country for the past two years. As a result, young talents are not coming up, which is affecting our team selection”.

In 2015, Ghimire was the first person to understand the need for an ODI status and mentioned it in her annual report. When the awaited status was finally award through her efforts, the CAN was dissolved.

However, she has not lost hope and goes on to say, ”I personally believe Nepal can achieve Test status by 2030, or even before that. We are perfectly capable. But until and unless we sort out our internal administrative issues, it doesn’t seem possible”.

In an attempt to address the administrative crisis, the newly appointed Minister for Youth and Sports in Nepal, Jagat Bahadur Bishwakarma has said that they need to start giving primary importance to finding a solution to the crisis at hand.

New Hope!

The One Day International Status has brought new hope to the Rhinos. The captain of the Nepali cricket team, Paras Khadka praised his team after their achievement of the ODI status. The six-wicket victory over Papa Guinea renewed the spirits of the players and gave them a promise of a golden tomorrow.

Dipendra Singh Airee and leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane ensured victory when both of them took 4 wickets each, leaving the opponent team staggering. Airee’s unbeaten half-century contributed to the much-coveted status.

Expressing his immense joy, Khadka says, “It’s massive it’s something we have worked towards for a very long time”.

“As a team we’ve been pushing ourselves. We’re very glad that we’re winning games through different situations, players are standing up and everyone’s contributing.”

“As a captain I’m happy to lead such an amazing bunch of boys.”

Nepal records an increase in attendance of up to 20,000 spectators. With a pipeline of achievements in the cricket scenario, there is growing enthusiasm among the local population.

On a hopeful note:
We hope that Nepal brings home many more trophies and honors and we see more and more young stars like Sandeep Lamichhane make their nations proud.

Nepal Cricket 2018 News Highlights & More Information

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