Kathmandu, Nov. 29: The future cricketing stars of Nepal, the men’s U-19 team, will begin their campaign at the ACC Men’s U-19 Asia Cup, facing group opponent Sri Lanka in Sharjah, UAE, on Friday morning.

While Nepal will face Sri Lanka, their two other Group B members, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, will be facing each other at the same time in Dubai.

Played in a single round-robin format by dividing eight teams into two groups of four each, Nepal will face Bangladesh and Afghanistan on December 1 and 3 respectively.

Nepal will have to finish within the top two positions in the group by the end of the league stage to progress to the semi-finals, where they will meet one of the four members of Group A – India, Pakistan, Japan and the UAE.

Nevertheless, it will not be easy for Nepal to progress to the playoffs by outperforming the three youth teams of full members in the 11th edition of the tournament.

Nepal’s background in Asia Cup 

Of the four teams in Group B, Nepal and Sri Lanka are the only teams to not have won the U-19 Asia Cup. While Afghanistan won the tournament in 2017, Bangladesh is the defending champion.

Nepal, who debuted in the Asia Cup in the third edition in Malaysia in 2012, ended their campaign in the 10th edition in 2023 from the group stage after losing all three matches against India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The best performance for Nepal came in the sixth edition in 2017 when the tournament returned to Malaysia. Nepal reached the semi-final in 2017 after beating India in the group stage. However, the team lost to Afghanistan in the playoffs.

Nepali youngsters

The Nepali squad might be the least prepared team in the tournament. The 15-member squad is in the UAE with a preparation of around 15 days together.

The squad left for the Gulf after a 5-OD friendly series with the squad of Karnataka, India; Nepal won the series by 3-2. Furthermore, the players have been active in cricket since October as they were playing in the Naresh Shrestha Memorial U-19 Men’s National Tournament, the competition based on which the players were called for the national squad.

Nepal is being captained by pacer Hemant Dhami, skipper of the Naresh Shrestha Memorial Tournament-winning team, and he is being assisted by Arjun Kumal as vice-captain.

Hemant and Arjun played for Nepal in the previous edition as well. Other players representing Nepal in the previous and current editions include Uttam Magar and Aakash Tripathi.

Thus, the majority of the players in Nepal’s squad for the 11th Asia Cup are new faces. However, they all were the best performers in the memorial tournament and the friendly series with Karnataka.

“I believe in the players. While results are not in our hands, we will play our best cricket,” said Shakti Gauchan, head coach of the national U-19 team, during the farewell programme in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

There are many hopes for the U-19 team, which was backed by the auction of the inaugural NPL. Of the 15 players in the national U-19 squad, seven have been procured for the NPL.

Hemant and Aakash are in Janakpur Bolts; Naren Saud and Arjun Kumal in Sudurpaschim Royals, Unish Bikram Singh Thakuri in Karnali Yaks; Naren Bhatta in Biratnagar Kings; and Ranjit Kumar in Chitwan Rhinos.

Opponent players 

Nepal’s group opponents, including title-defender Bangladesh, have also made several changes to their squad compared to the team in the previous edition.

Bowlers Iqbal Hasan Emon and Maruf Mridha are two old faces in the squad while those in Sri Lanka include opener Pulindu Perera and wicket-keeper Sharujan Shanmuganathan.

Former skipper Naseer Khan Maroofkhil and Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar are two faces who will be continuing their performance for Afghanistan in 2024.

Nepal, despite troubles, has the chance to register up to two wins in the group stage and enter the semi-final stage. However, when they face teams like India and Pakistan in the playoffs, it will be more difficult.

India’s Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi are being looked at as the new sensation in global cricket. Moreover, Vaibhav, the 13-year-old, awestruck cricket enthusiasts by being the youngest player to be bought in an IPL auction. Vaibhav was procured by Rajasthan Royals for the 2025 IPL at IRs. 1.10 crore.