Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) have announced that they have agreed to take part in a bi-lateral T20I series in February 2021 in Doha, after accepting the formal invitation sent by Qatar Cricket Association (QCA). The tour will involve three T20I matches and will be most likely played at Asian Town Cricket Stadium in Doha, which has hosted T20Is series between the host’s and Jersey & Kuwait in 2019.
This will be Nepal’s maiden tour of Qatar from February 09th – 12th, which will take place during “Qatar National Sports Day” celebrations in the country on 09th February. The tour will also be Nepal’s first International assignment after they hosted an ODI Tri-series in February 2020 and Eastern region T20 tournament in Thailand in March 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The matches are scheduled for 09th, 10th and 12th February.
The national squad set-up under the supervision of their new head coach Dav Whatmore will be conducting a closed training camp at the beginning of February, before travelling to Qatar for the tour. Some of the national squad members will already be in action prior to the tour, with the likes of Karan KC, Sompal Kami and Kushal Malla involved in Abu Dhabi T10 tournament in UAE, while Sandeep Lamichhane involved in the Big Bash League in Australia.
While Nepal’s players have been playing 50-overs cricket at home in the PM ODI Cup, Qatar players took part in the T10 tournament held during Qatar’s National Day celebrations in January 2021.
Qatar and Nepal met in a T20I game during the T20 World Cup Asia Regional finals held in Singapore in July 2019, with Qatar registering their maiden win over their regional heavyweights in the Associate landscape in the region.
