Pakistan U-23 vs Nepal Preview : ACC Emerging Cup 2017

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Kathmandu : Nepali national cricket squad play their first match Against pakistan u-23 in ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup at Bangladesh on Monday. Four pakistani players over the age of 23 have been named in the squad as well.

pakistan’s over-23 players include Bilal Asif (31), Haris Sohail (28), Hammad Azam (26) and Rizwan (24). Pakistan’s Rizwan has featured in one Test, 25 ODIs and ten T20Is, while Sohail has experience in 22 ODIs and four T20Is. Azam and Asif haven’t for Pakistan since 2015 and what makes it tougher is they didn’t even feature in the Pakistan Super League. Nepal, who just beat Kenya at home in the second match of the ICC World Cricket League.
Regular Nepali captain Paras Khadka, veteran left arm spinners Shakti Gauchan and Basant Regmi alongside fast bowler Sompal Kami are the absentees of the squad. Paras is still not fit while the other three bowlers have been rested.

Nepal doesn't have a good record in the Emerging Teams Cup as it had lost all the matches in the first edition held in Singapore four years back. It failed to register a single win in the group stage given the three defeats out of three matches against U-23 teams of India and Pakistan alongside Afghanistan.

Teams are divided into 2 groups. Group A consists of India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Malaysia while Group B includes Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Nepal.

Pakistan squad: Imam-ul-Haq, Jaahid Ali, Imran Butt, Haris Sohail, Khushdil Shah, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Bilal Asif, Usama Mir, Zafar Gohar, Sameen Gul, Ahmed Bashir, Ghulam Mudassar, Amad Butt, Hammad Azam.

Nepal : Gyanendra Malla, Sharad Vesawkar, Binod Bhandari, Sagar Pun, Aarif Sheikh, Mahaboob Alam, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sandeep Lamichhane, Aasif Sheikh, Avinash Karn, Sunil Dhamala, Bhuvan Karki, Sushan Bhari, Dipesh Shrestha, Dilip Nath