With an ambition of securing a place in the Twenty20 World Cup finals for the second time, the national cricket team of Nepal are all prepared for the final phase of qualifiers — the ICC Men's T20 Cup Global Qualifiers set to take place from February 18 to 24 in Oman.

A much revamped Nepal is preparing to fly to Oman on Tuesday where they are also scheduled to play a four-team T20I Series comprising hosts Oman, and Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to fine-tune their preparations for the Qualifiers. The T20I Series is set to be played from February 11 to 14.

The Group 'A' of the Global Qualifiers features eight teams with Nepal, Oman, Canada and the Philippines pitted in Group '2' while Group '1' comprises Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and Bahrain. The finalists of the Qualifiers will book tickets for World T20 finals in November.

The Nepali team went through many ups and down in the past couple of months. The punishments to national cricketers, change in captaincy, boycott of the national camp by some of the key players and finally a reconciliation and closed camp were among some of the incidents Nepali cricket went through. And now the team is united for a common goal of making it to the World T20 finals for the second time, since earning a berth for the global showpiece in 2014.

Sri Lankan born Canadian coach Pubudu Dassanayake, who led Nepal to their maiden World T20 in 2014, has been reappointed coach to achieve Nepal's dream of second global showpiece. Unlike in the past, the Nepali team is now studded with youth players with just former captain Gyanendra Malla and Sharad Vesawkar as the players of the previous generation.

Batter Lokesh Bam and allrounder Bibek Yadav are among the latest entrants in the national fold. Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane has been handed the captain's responsibility. But coach Dassanayake has high hopes Nepal would make it to the World T20 finals.

"We had few challenges with our training scheduled due to weather conditions and Covid situation. Despite that, we got what we wanted from our training session," said Dassanayake. "At the beginning we had few issues with Covid situation, but now we are fully free and everyone is fit to go and the team is united."

He was also upbeat about Nepal's prospects of securing a World Cup berth. "I am pretty confident. I am looking for momentum out there and we are fully settled so I have full confidence and I am hoping Nepal plays a second World Cup," said Dassanayake who also warned that his side could not afford to make any mistake. "The tournament is in such a way that we cannot make any mistakes," he said referring to the four team group. "It is a very short tournament and (mistakes in) one or two games could prove damaging."

He also said that he was much impressed with new talents and the batting performance of the team. "I was surprised when I came five weeks ago and saw new talents. We are a good batting unit," he said, adding, “Oman would be the team to beat in the tournament.”

"Oman is the home team and they know the home conditions very well. They have been playing a lot of cricket lately and they are the one team to beat for sure. Moving forward, Ireland and UAE are also tough teams so we need to play our best cricket," said the Canadian.

Veteran Sharad Vesawkar, an influential member of the 2014 squad who marked his comeback for the shortest format of the game after 2019, said that the team was balanced and they were capable of securing a place in the finals. "The team is balanced and playing well in the practice also. Rather than concentrating on personal things, each player needs to focus on giving their best for the team. Everyone knows their role and will play as per the requirements," said the allrounder.

"I am confident about playing in the World Cup for the second time. It is just a matter of two games because if we give our best in those two matches and play to our potential, we can make it to the World Cup," he said, adding there were a lot of differences between the 2014 team and the current one.

"Though many players are young, they are ready for the game. Compared to our team of 2014 and this team, we were not as ready then as now. If we are able to execute our plans, the outcome could be best," said Vesawkar adding that unlike in the past the team has transformed to a batting side from a bowling unit.

"In the past our strength used to be bowling but now we are more confident in our batting strength. Our batting has been consistently good and the bowling is also up to the mark. However, the outcome depends upon how we play on a particular day," he said, adding that the presence of young players would not have an effect on the performance. "We have been playing with the same players in the domestic games and everyone knows each other's quality very well, so I would not say it is a transition phase. If we could focus on our duty we could qualify."

Captain Sandeep Lamichhane, who will shoulder the captain's responsibility for the first time, also expressed satisfaction with the training. "The training is up to the mark and we will give our cent percent. It is a time for us to carry the momentum (of 2014) and take Nepali cricket to a higher level. It is the dream of all Nepali people," he said, adding that there were no big differences in his role despite taking over the captaincy for the first time. "Though it's a new role for me, I used to lead the bowling department in the past."