KATHMANDU, Feb 20: Nepal is set to take part in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup 2017 scheduled from March 25 to April 5 in Bangladesh.
Nepal and Afghanistan will be the only non Test playing nations to participate in the tournament alongside other Test playing nations including host Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka according to Bangladeshi agencies.
According to reports in Bangladeshi media, other non Test playing nations Hong Kong and the UAE which were supposed to take part in the competition withdrew due to busy schedule. Nepal and Afghanistan will send their national teams while four Test nations will field their U-23 teams. The four Test playing nations will be able to include four national cricketers.
The competition featuring six Asian nations will be played in round robin format and the two top teams from the group stage will vie for the title. Though the venues of the tournament are yet be finalized, the final clash will be played at Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, reported Dhaka Tribune of Bangladesh quoting Bangladesh Cricket Board's CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury.
DPL to be affected
The ACC Emerging Teams Cup is likely to affect the schedule of Sagarmatha Cement Dhangadhi Premier League (DPL), the first city-based auction cricket tournament of Nepal which is supposed to be held from March 18 to April 1. All the six teams of the DPL are captained by national players and all 14 members of the national team have joined teams in the tournament. Hence the national players won't be available for the tournament.
Dhangadhi Cricket Academy's President Subash Shahi, organizer of the DPL, said that they are ready to reschedule the fixtures of the tournament. “The Emerging Teams Cup was not in the scene while we decided the date of DPL. The tournament was announced by ACC after we finalized the date of DPL,” said Shahi, “We are organizing this tournament for the improvement of domestic tournament and not for profit. So, re-scheduling the tournament won't be a big issue for us.”
International Cricket Council (ICC)'s Nepal representative and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN)'s former CEO Bhawana Ghimire and CAN's Chief Operating Officer Chhumbi Lama said that they haven't received any information about the Emerging Teams Cup.
“Asian Cricket Council (ACC) had inquired about the national team's schedule about a month ago and I had informed them about the DPL after consultations with Subash Shahi and Parash Khadka,” said Ghimire. “They also had kept similar concerns to other seven nations. Since then, they have not said anything about the Emerging Teams Cup.”
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