The ‘core camp’ organised by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) reached its halfway stage on Tuesday. The camp has 52 players divided into four teams of 13 each that are competing in a double round-robin format in a 50-over game since April 26.

The 52 players called in the camp, which will act as a selection platform for the new head coach Stuart Law, include those under the central contract of CAN, former national players, and emerging players.

As revealed last month, CAN has 33 players divided into five categories—Grade A, Grade B, Grade C, Grade D and Emerging—for the year 2025. A player listed in CAN’s annual contract is considered one of the best in the country.

However, there is only one player with CAN’s annual contract in the list of the top five batters with the most runs in the core camp. Bhim Sharki, of Team Red, is the leading run scorer with 126 runs, which he scored on the first day of the camp. Sharki is a Grade C player under CAN.

Sharki’s Team Red did not bat in their second game, against Team Green, on Sunday, as the game was interrupted by rain since the first inning. Team Yellow could also not complete their first inning against Team Blue on the same day.

Meanwhile, none of the other batters in the Top 5 with the most runs are under CAN’s contract. Dilip Nath (121 runs in 3 innings), Shubh Kansakar (103 runs in 2 innings), Ishan Pandey (103 runs in 3 innings) and Arjun Saud (98 runs in 2 innings) follow Sharki. Sharki and Pandey are the only two players with a century in the tournament. Pandey, of Team Green, had then stayed not out at 103 runs.

Grade A player Dipendra Singh Airee, skipper of Team Yellow, is in the sixth position with 96 runs from three games.

The players following Airee in the Top 10 list are Rupesh Kumar Singh (94 runs in 3 games), Kushal Bhurtel (90 runs in 3 games), Dev Khanal (82 runs in 2 innings) and Aakash Tripathi (82 runs in 3 innings). Singh, Bhurtel and Khanal are CAN’s Emerging, Grade B and Grade C players, respectively, while Tripathi is unrated.

Senior players have been struggling not only with the bat. Nandan Kumar Yadav of Team Red, with 7 wickets in 3 games, is the leading wicket-taker; he is not under CAN’s central contract for 2025.

Pratish GC and Sagar Dhakal, of teams Red and Green, are in the second and third positions with six wickets each. GC and Dhakal are Grade D players.

Yuvraj Khatri, who is making a name with his spins in the national U19 team, is yet to be called up for the senior side. He took four wickets against Team Green on Tuesday to be the fourth leading wicket taker in the camp; his four wickets helped Team Blue defeat Team Green by 64 runs. Khatri’s victims on Tuesday were Aasif Sheikh, Nath, Tripathi and Pawan Sarraf.

Khatri is followed by Shahab Alam (5 wickets in 3 games), Karan KC (5 wickets in 3 games), Rashid Khan (4 wickets in 2 innings), Santosh Yadav (3 wickets in 1 inning), Sompal Kami (3 wickets in 2 innings) and Sandeep Lamichhane (3 wickets in 3 innings). Alam, KC and Yadav are Grade D, Grade B and Emerging players, while Kami and Lamichhane are of Grade A. Khan is not under CAN’s contract.

It is not the first time that senior players have been falling short against domestic players in domestic tournaments. A similar scenario was common in the Men’s PM Cup in March as well.

“There are many talents in Nepal,” Nepal’s new coach Stuart Law said on April 26 when he met the national team and staff for the first time at Mulpani. “The performances in the camp could likely lead to a subtle change in the current national squad.”

Team Blue and Team Yellow are facing Team Red and Team Green, respectively, on Wednesday. Team Red and Team Yellow were victorious by 199 runs and 17 runs, respectively, when the teams played each other in the tournament opener on Saturday.