The youthful Nepal national cricket team will have to cope up with tricky conditions when they play the US Triangular Series of the ICC World Cup League 2 in Houston, Texas, from June 8 to 16.

The Nepali team had their first training session of the US tour at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston on Tuesday afternoon. They are scheduled to play two preparatory matches—against Nepali All Star on Thursday and locals Houston Hurricanes on Saturday—before playing the Series against the US and Oman.

Nepal need to cope up with the hot and humid situation of Houston coupled with fast blowing wind. The first training session ran for three hours under hot and humid conditions, quite different from what Nepal were used to play under back home. Nepal's coach Pubudu Dassanayake, who also had a stint as US coach from 2016–2019, and other members of the team were sweating under the scorching heat of Houston.

The highest temperature of Houston was recorded at 36 degree Celsius on Tuesday with average humidity of 75 percent and wind speed of seven mph. "The condition here is really challenging,” said the Canadian coach of Sri Lanka origin. “The two warm up matches are really important for us. We want to make sure that the boys are in good shape and get used to the heat and condition of Houston."

Nepal have played 12 matches of the League 2 so far and have won six and lost as many. "We have a 50 percent winning record in the tournament. We want to win all the matches here though it is not that easy. We want to improve our winning record but we need to keep winning momentum," said Dassanayake.

The matches of the League 2 will be played at the Moosa Cricket Stadium in Pearland, Houston, which has a flat wicket. The US are currently playing against Scotland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the same venue. Dassanayake believes that the wicket will be spin-friendly. "The matches between the US, Scotland and the UAE have shed light on the fact that the conditions will be difficult for batters," he said.

Nepal are planning to play with two spinners due to wicket conditions. "We are looking to play two spinners because wicket conditions will be favourable to spinners," he said.

Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, also the captain, will spearhead Nepal's bowling attack. Sushan Bhari and Sagar Dhakal will fight for another spot available for spinner in the startling line up. All-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, who also bowls off spin, will be the other player to lead bowling attack. Pacers Karan KC and Sompal Kami have almost sealed their place in the starting XI.

Aasif Sheikh and Kushal Bhurtel will open Nepal's batting while Dev Khanal will come as number three batter, according to Dassanayake. Dipendra Singh Airee, Rohit Paudel and Aarif Sheikh will be deployed as middle order batters while Binod Bhandari and Aadil Ansari will vie for place in the lower middle order batting.

Dassanayake is also planning to give chances to all 15 players in the practice matches. Kishor Mahato, who took five wickets in a recently played series against Zimbabwe 'A', is also expected to get a chance to prove his mettle in the warm up match. He is the only player to mark a One-Day International debut in the squad.

Nepal's captain Lamichhane believes that the team are in good shape. "We are getting better every day,” said Lamichhane. “It is challenging to play here but the two practice matches will be a good opportunity for all of us to get used to with the condition. We have one week more to get ready for the tournament."

Lamichhane added, "After fielding, we had batting practice today. There are lots of ups and downs in the team and we need to maintain consistency. But the team has the capacity to win any given day."

In their first match, the Nepali team will play against Nepali All Star consisting of former Nepali national players including veteran Basanta Regmi and Prithu Banskota apart from Indian all-rounder Bipul Sharma, Harmeet Singh, and Pakistani Mohammad Ilyas, among others. Former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson, also scheduled to play against Nepal, withdrew his participation after his pregnant wife was rushed to hospital.

"Huge respect to Prithu and Basanta—they have played lots of matches for Nepal and are experienced players,” said Lamichhane. “But when they play against us they are opponents like any other team and we will give our cent percent."

With 12 points, Nepal are sixth in the standings among seven teams which include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Scotland, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Namibia. Nepal will play two matches each against the US and Oman in Houston.

Oman lead the standings with 40 points from 32 matches. Scotland are second with 28 points from 19 games, the UAE third on 22 points (19 games), the US fourth on 18 points (16 games), Namibia fifth on 14 points (14 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.