Nepal’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 Series campaign is set to begin at home where they will host the United States of America and Oman in a tri-series scheduled for February 5-12 at the TU Stadium.

According to the schedule released by the International Cricket Council, each team in the seven-nation League 2 will play 36 One Day Internationals over a period of two and half years beginning from August this year. Each team will face each other in six one-dayers in League 2 which is the pathway to the 2023 World Cup. The League 2 is a new programme of the ICC which replaced the ICC World Cricket League Championship where Nepal had finished seventh in the eight-nation event.

After the completion of the League, the top three teams will enter the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in 2022. The bottom four teams will be relegated to the World Cup Qualifier playoff 2022 and will be joined by winners from the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League A and B. Only the top two teams from the playoff will make it to the Qualifiers proper.

Nepal had earned the coveted ODI status after they finished eighth in the 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. The ODI status will see them play in the League 2 which also includes Namibia, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates, Papua New Guinea and Oman.

PNG, Oman, USA and Namibia joined the League 2 following their top four finish in the recently held ICC World Cricket League |Division 2.

After earning the ODI status, Nepal have so far played two bilateral series, beginning with a two-match series against the Netherlands in Amstelveen in August last year. Nepal had squared that series and later went on to register a maiden ODI series triumph defeating the UAE at their home in January early this year.

Apart from the 36 one-dayers as scheduled by the world cricket’s supreme body, Nepal can also play bilateral or tri-series if the country’s cricket administration negotiates properly with home board from other nations for more series. In stark contrast to the onfield accomplishments, Nepal currently doesn’t have a home board as the Cricket Association of Nepal is currently under suspension from the ICC in the pretext of disputed elections and government interference.

After playing USA and Oman in their League 2 debut, Nepal will travel to Namibia where they will play the hosts and Scotland in the second tri-series from April 20-27 at the Wanderers CC in Windhoek. That series will be followed by a June 9-16 visit to the PNG who will also host the UAE. The same month Nepal will meet Scotland and Namibia in another series in June.

The ICC has so far confirmed the exact date and venue for eight tri-series with rest 13 only given a tentative date. Under the tentative date, Nepal will play Oman and USA in January 2021 and UAE and PNG a month later.

They are likely to travel to the USA for another tri-series involving Oman in August, 2021. They could be hosting Namibia and Scotland in November, 2021 and wrap-up the League 2 campaign with the matches against UAE and PNG in January, 2022.