Gyanendra Malla will lead Nepal once again as the batting mainstay was named skipper in the 15-man squad announced on Wednesday for the ACC Emerging Nations Cup slated for March 25  to April 4 in Bangladesh.

Malla also captained Nepal in the ICC World Cricket League Championship fifth round double header against Kenya at the TU Stadium in Kirtipur on March 11 and 13. Nepal lost rain-marred first match by five wickets but bounced back to beat Kenya by seven wickets in the second. The victory was also Nepal’s first in four clashes against the opposition in 50-over format. Malla took the captain’s armband as Paras Khadka sat out of both the games despite being in the team as he was recovering from appendicitis surgery in mid-Febraury.

Khadka, however, made himself unavailable for the ACC event immediately after Nepal second game against Kenya. Veteran spinners Basanta Regmi and Shakti Gauchan along with paceman Sompal Kami was also rested for the Bangladesh event. Asif Sheikh Dipesh Shrestha and Dilip Nath broke into the squad as their replacement. The selection committed headed by ICC-Asia Development Officer Venkatapathy Raju named the squad. The selection committee also includes head coach Jagat Tamatta, Khadka and Malla as members. Kushal Bhurtel, Jitendra Kumar Mukhiya, Rajesh Pulami Magar and Sushil Kandel was named as reserves.

National teams of Nepal, Afghanistan, Malaysia and Hong Kong will compete against the Under-23 

teams from the four Test-playing nations of the region—India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh—in the tournament.

Squad

Gyanendra Malla (captain), Sharad Vesawkar (vice captain), Binod Bhandari, Sagar Pun, Arif Sheikh, Mahaboob Alam, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Asif Sheikh, Avinash Karn, Sunil Dhamala, Bhuwan Karki, Sushan Bhari, Dipesh Shrestha, Dilip Nath