National cricket captain Sandeep Lamichhane on Saturday said that the US Triangular series of the ICC World Cup League 2 was an important step to shape their path for the 2023 ICC World Cup Qualifiers.

"Rather than the US visit, the performance of the series will be key to shape our future for World Cup Qualifiers," said Lamichhane at a farewell organised in Kathmandu ahead of their departure for the US. "We have a balanced side and our ambition is to earn maximum points from remaining games of the League 2 to keep afloat our World Cup ambition. We are yet to play 24 matches in the series."

The series involving Nepal, US and Oman will be played from June 6 to 16 in Huston, Texas. Each team will play double-header matches. Nepal are sixth in the standing among seven teams which also include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Scotland, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Namibia.

Oman lead the standings with 40 points from 32 matches while Nepal are sixth with 12 points from as many games. Scotland are second with 24 points from 16 games, UAE third on 22 points (18 games), Namibia fourth on 14 points (14 games), US fifth on 14 points (16 games) and PNG seventh on two points (20 games).

The sides finishing on top three positions at the end of the league cycle, where each team will play 36 games, will secure berths for ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe next year while the bottom four sides will enter World Cup Playoffs.

Nepal's Canadian coach Pubudu Dassanayake said that the goal for the US tour was to climb up in the standings. "We have been working rigorously for the past few weeks. We have good talents in the youth team and our ambition is to climb to fourth or fifth position in the standings," said Dassanayake.

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) president Chatur Bahadur Chand said that he was optimistic Nepal would progress into the next stage in materialising the World Cup dream. "The US series will also be vital for keeping our One-Day International (ODI) status intact. I hope the players will perform their best and move a step closer to the next round," said Chand.

Minister for Youth and Sports Maheshwar Jung Gahatraj urged the team to amend the past weaknesses and perform to their level best. "Though there is dispute in the domestic arena I urge the players to forget this," Gahatraj said, referring to Everest Premier League's writ petition against CAN and the cricket governing body's first ever official T20 league.

Nepal are scheduled to begin the campaign taking on Oman on June 9, and the USA on June 11. They will vie against Oman on June 14 before taking on hosts the following day. They will also play a practice match against Nepali All Stars team comprising former Nepali national and other players on June 2 and against locals Houston Hurricanes two days later.