Kathmandu, April 6 - The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) announced that Gyanendra Malla will serve as the head coach for the national men's cricket team during their trip to Hong Kong for a four-team tournament including Kuwait and Qatar.
Malla, who previously played and served as captain for the Nepali team, now holds the position of head coach for Nepal’s A team. According to Chhumbi Lama, the spokesman for CAN, Malla has been named as the head coach for the national squad during the Hong Kong series.
The position of head coach for the senior men's team has remained empty since Monty Desai left in February. Although the CAN has named Australia’s Stuart Law as the new head coach for a two-year term beginning in April, he will only join the squad following their games in Hong Kong.
"Law will join and begin training the players called in the closed camp for CWC League 2 once the current squad returns from Hong Kong," Lama said. "Malla has been with the senior side after the conclusion of the Men's PM Cup and will continue until the series between the four teams concludes."
Previous encounters
As the favorites going into the series, Nepal boasts being the top-ranked T20I team among those competing. However, they've faced challenges in previous encounters with their adversaries.
Among the three teams, Nepal has faced the hosts, Hong Kong, more frequently than the others. Since 2014, Nepal and Hong Kong have clashed 11 times in T20 Internationals; each team has emerged victorious five times, with one match ending as a tie.
Nepal's journey to Hong Kong happened relatively recently. Last March, both Nepal and Papua New Guinea were invited to participate in a triangular series. During this time, Nepal suffered a loss against Hong Kong in an exhibition match, but their scheduled game within the series was unfortunately called off because of heavy rainfall.
In the meantime, Nepal and Kuwait faced each other once in T20I matches during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Regional Finals in July 2019. Nepal emerged victorious, winning the match by seven wickets.
Nevertheless, Nepal suffered a loss against Qatar during the same tournament when they faced each other in their initial T20I match. Qatar won by four wickets. However, when the teams encountered one another once more, this time at the ACC Men's Premier Cup in April of the previous year, Nepal emerged victorious with a margin of 32 runs.
Fixtures
The Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground will play host to the four nations competing under a single round-robin system, where the top two squads will vie for the championship, while the bottom two will contend for third position.
Likewise, each day of the five-day tournament will feature two matches with a rest day in between. The event kicks off on April 9 with Nepal versus Qatar and Hong Kong against Kuwait, followed by Nepal taking on Kuwait and Hong Kong playing Qatar on April 10.
On April 11, Nepal gets a rest day as they prepare to play against the hosts. Meanwhile, Kuwait will go up against Qatar on April 12. The tournament concludes with the final match and the third-place playoff scheduled for April 13.
As stated by Cricket Hong Kong, enthusiasts worldwide have the opportunity to watch the matches on both Cricket Hong Kong’s official YouTube page and Styx Sports. The initial two fixtures for Nepal are scheduled to start at 6:45 am local Nepalese time, with their third match versus Hong Kong commencing at 11:15 am.
Nepal's squad
Malla is bringing 14 players along for his trip to Hong Kong. According to the team roster disclosed by CAN on Saturday, Rohit Kumar Paudel will be leading the group which features strong hitters such as Kushal Bhurtel, Dipendra Singh Airee, Kushal Malla, Lokesh Bam, and Basir Ahmad.
Likewise, two left-handed spinners, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Shahab Alam, will join the pace bowlers Karan KC, Sompal Kami, and Rijan Dhakal. The squad also includes Gulshan Kumar Jha and Nandakumar Yadav.