The ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup Trophy will travel to Nepal for the first time on August 30-31, according to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The 100-day countdown to ICC T20 World Cup officially began in Melbourne amid a ceremony on Friday, with the likes of Australian international cricket stars Aaron Finch, Georgia Wareham, Tayla Vlaeminck, Shane Watson, Waqar Younis and Morne Morkel launching the World Cup Trophy Tour.

The trophy will visit 35 locations in 13 countries across four continents, before making its final stop in Geelong on October 16 for the opening match of the T20 World Cup 2022 between Sri Lanka and Namibia.

“With just 100 days to go until the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, there is a real sense of excitement ahead of the 16 teams coming together in Australia to compete for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket,” said ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice on ICC website.

The T20 World Cup trophy will make stops in Fiji, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Namibia, Nepal, Singapore and Vanuatu for the first time.

“Celebrating the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy Tour is another important milestone in taking the Trophy to ten countries for the first time ever, once again showing our commitment to using the T20 format as a vehicle to grow the game and to engage new fans across the world,” added Allardice.

This is the third time Nepal will be welcoming a trophy of a major global sporting event. The ICC men’s fifty-over World Cup trophy had also made its maiden tour in Nepal in October 2018. Nepal had also watched the 2014 FIFA World Cup Trophy tour in 2013.

Hosts Australia will begin their defence of the World Cup title against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on October 22.

Nepal failed to qualify for the Australia finals after they lost to the United Arab Emirates in the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 Global Qualifiers ‘A’ in Muscat, Oman in February.

Nepal’s first and only appearance in the T20 World Cup came in 2014 in Bangladesh.