The youthful Nepali team are on the way to getting settled especially at the batting front. The exclusion of long-serving Gyanendra Malla, the former captain who usually came at one-down, has left a big void in the top order batting.

But it seems Nepal's coach Pubudu Dassanayake has found an ideal replacement at number three in teenage Dev Khanal.

The 17-year-old U-19 captain made his debut into the senior national team in the two-match bilateral ODI Series against Papua New Guinea (PNG) in March but his first appearance, however, could not become memorable. He was out for a duck as he gave away a catch at mid off after he lost patience and stepped out.

But he found his firm in the second ODI scoring 72 runs though Nepal lost both matches.

Malla was left out after Nepal's ICC World Cup League 2 tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in March, a few days before Nepal hosted Zimbabwe 'A' at home turf.

Khanal replaced the veteran in the squad. But he was not included in the starting XI in Nepal's One-Day Series against Zimbabwe 'A'.

Dassanayake rotated his squad and left out Khanal from the starting list to find his ideal batting line up.

"He was not in the Zimbabwe Series because I wanted to rotate the squad. But Dev is a settled batter now," Dassanayake said ahead of Nepal's warm up match against Nepali All Star, played to fine tune the team's US Triangular series of the ICC World Cup League 2 beginning on June 8.

Khanal, however, ruled out that he would replace Malla. "He is a legend. I cannot fit in his shoes, but I think I can make my own place rather than replacing him," said the 17-year-old. "The seniors have also been pushing and motivating me. Dipendra Singh Airee, Rohit Kumar Paudel and Kushal Bhurtel are in good shape and I can learn a lot from them," he said.

Regarding his future, Khanal said: "You need to prove yourself once you get the opportunity. I cannot say about the future as I have been in the national team for a very short time."

He also said that the conditions of the US and Nepal were totally different and the performance will largely be based on how fast “I could cope with the conditions in the US”. He added that he would not come under pressure batting in top order.

His innings building batting could be vital for both the national squad as well as his individual career in the slow US wicket.

"It is just a matter of time. Once you settle down and get into the situation it gradually becomes easy. But the conditions are tough and we are not used to such an environment. The weather is not like the one we are used to in Nepal because the temperature is about 40 degrees, so it will be difficult for us," said Khanal.

Referring to the US series of the World Cup League 2, Khanal said: "The opponents are really tough and have been playing good cricket. Oman are playing the last Series of the League 2. They have played more matches than us and have more match experience. But we too have been working really hard for the last two months and hope for good results."

He was also grateful to Nepali All Star for arranging for two practice matches against Nepali All Star on Thursday and Huston Hurricanes for Saturday.

"Practice matches are very important. Kudos to Nepali All Star Club for providing such great facilities to us. I think these two matches will give us an opportunity to observe the condition and get used to it. All will be vital for gaining confidence."