Province 3 will take on Province 4 in the inaugural U-16 National Cricket Tournament match at the Tribhuvan University Stadium on Tuesday.

A total of seven teams—all provinces—are participating in the tournament organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry in coordination with National Sports Council. The week-long tournament is also taken as cricketers’ selection for the upcoming ACC U-16 Eastern Region Tournament to be held in Chiang Mai Thailand from April 18-29.

National cricket team coach Jagat Tamatta said NSC decided to hold the nationwide tournament to assess the number of young talents the country has. “The government had initially asked us to form a team hand-picking them from different parts of the country. But we decided to create a big pool of future cricketers by hosting this tournament,” said Tamatta.

The provincial teams were formed following a round of talent hunt and tournaments at the 40 districts. A total of 30 players were called up for the second phase where the selected cricketers played matches at the respective province before the final squad was formed. Tamatta said the tournament will serve as a backbone for Nepali cricket.

“In the current situation when there are very less tournaments, this tournament will help us to identify future talents. Our domestic stars like Paras (skipper Paras Khadka), Gyanendra Malla, Sharad Vesawkar came from the ranks of U-15 tournaments and we are hopeful that we get more talents like them,” added Tamatta who is also the head coach with the NSC.

Madan Bhandari Sports Academy is assisting NSC to organise the tournament. The tournament will be a 30-over-a-side contest as the Eastern Region Tournament in Thailand will be a 35-over affair.