The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) bid farewell to the Nepali squad participating in the ACC Men’s U16 East Zone Cup at the Upper Mulpani Cricket Ground on Friday.

According to CAN, they take the tournament seriously as Nepal are not only participating but defending the title. Nepal won the previous edition of the tournament, hosted by Malaysia in 2023. Nepal defeated the hosts by 221 runs in the final on July 4.

Nonetheless, there were only seven teams in the previous edition while three—Bhutan, Japan and Myanmar—have been added this time.

A total of 10 teams are participating in the underage tournament being hosted by Malaysia from June 22 to July 5.

Of the 10 teams divided into two groups of five, Nepal are in Group A alongside Singapore, Indonesia, Bhutan and Japan. Group B comprises Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Maldives and Myanmar.

Nepal will open their campaign against Singapore on June 22. The young Rhinos will then face Japan and Indonesia on June 24 and 29, respectively, while playing Bhutan on July 1. The two best teams from each group will enter the semi-finals, with the group topper facing the runner-up of the opposite group.

“We are well-prepared,” said head coach Dipendra Bahadur Chand. “The players have been active as they played in district-, provincial and central-level events before being selected to don the national jersey.”

Similarly, Bipin Prasad Sharma, the U16 skipper, said that the team was balanced. “The players have been doing great,” said Sharma, who was also the youngest player in the inaugural Nepal Premier League last year.

Squad:

Bipin Prasad Sharma (C), Suryanshu Koirala (VC), Shiwansh Bajgai (WK), Parimarjan Yadav (WK), Raunak Shrivastav, Abhay Yadav, Sachin Bhatta, Sugam Budhathoki, Suyog Bhattarai, Sushil Rawal, Shubham Khanal, Prasiddha Jaishi, Joy Thapa, Roshan Shahi