Veterans Binod Bhandari and Sompal Kami have been excluded from the 16-member final squad announced on Thursday for the ICC World T20 Global Qualifiers set to take place in Oman from February 17 to 24.

Allrounder Bibek Yadav and batter Lokesh Bam are the new faces included in the national squad. Yadav, who represented Province 2 in the Prime Minister Cup Twenty20 that concluded on Wednesday, had claimed five wickets and 87 runs in the four matches of the group stage.

Bam, the member of the PM Cup champions side Nepal AFP Club, had emerged as a new batting sensation with his two half centuries in the tournament. He had scored 18-ball 66 against Tribhuvan Army Club in the semi-final and had reached the half century mark in 14 balls becoming the first Nepali player to score fastest half century.

His first half century of the tournament came in the group stage against Bagmati when Bam had scored 24-ball 50.

The wicketkeeper-batter Bhandari had lately been struggling to find his form and had scored 77 runs in four matches of the PM Cup. Kami, the bowling allrounder, has been nursing his recurring back injury for the past few years. He was out of action for almost an entire year in 2019. He played just two matches in the Prime Minister Cup.

The Global Qualifiers feature eight teams. Nepal, Oman, Canada and the Philippines are pitted in Group '2' while Group '1' comprises Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Bahrain. The finalists of the Qualifiers will book tickets for World T20 finals in November. Nepal will play in the tournament under the captaincy of Sandeep Lamichhane.

Nepal squad

Sandeep Lamichhane (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gyanendra Malla, Sharad Vesawkar, Aarif Sheikh, Karan KC, Jitendra Mukhiya,

Abinash Bohora, Shahab Alam, Kushal Malla, Kamal Singh Airee, Bibek Yadav, Pradeep Airee, Lokesh Bam.