The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) did not name Gauchan, who had been awarded the Best Bowler in the National T20 event, for the national team preferring spinner Rahul Biswokarma.[break]
“There are a few left-arm spinners in the team, and we preferred Biswokarma for his recent international records,” chief selector Bijay Sharma said.
Biswokarma has taken 21 wickets each in last two international tournaments - the ACC U-19 Cup Elite and the Youth World Cup Qualifiers. He had also taken seven-wicket haul against USA in the final of the World Cricket League Division 5 final in 2008 at the TU Ground, the last international match played in Nepal.
Gauchan, who bowls tight-length and bats patiently, was also not included from the national squad that competed in the Twenty20 cricket at the Asian Games in China.
Subash Khakurel, the Under-19 wicket-keeper who was not amongst the first 22 cricketers called for the closed-camp training, has been named ahead of Chhetri.
“Immediately after the Maldives tour, coach Pubudu Dassanayake asked about other wicketkeeper as he thought Chhetri´s batting is not good enough for Twenty20 format,” Sharma said. Khakurel was called in the camp after the Under-25 team´s tour to Maldives for the SAARC T20 Cup where Chhetri was the wicketkeeper.
Paras Khadka has been retained as the captain and Gyanendra Malla as his deputy. Other members of the team are Mehboob Alam, Sharad Vesawkar, Binod Das, Prithu Baskota, Basanta Regmi, Pradeep Airee, Anil Mandal, Binod Bhandari, Amrit Bhattarai, Rahul Biswokarma and Sanjam Regmi.
Gauchan, Chhetri, Krishna Karki and Naresh Budhayer have been named as reserve players.
Independent selection: Sharma
“This is the best team we can select,” Sharma added saying that it´s natural for the senior players to fight for the spot at the time when young players are emerging.
Sharma, who heads a three-member selection committee that also include former captain Raju Khadka and Damodar Gautam, said that the committee finalized the squad independently.
The coach and the captain of the team participate in the meeting and the committee takes into account their preferences and suggestions.
While asked if there had been any interference from CAN´s new committee, Sharma claimed there was none. “If there is interference, Bijay Sharma won´t stay there for a minute,” he said.
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