Ishan Pandey has earned his first ODI call-up as Nepal named their 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 series against the United States and Scotland.
Nepal have made one change to the squad that played the previous League 2 window against the UAE and Oman, bringing in Ishan in place of Basir Ahamad.
The call-up rewards Ishan's strong recent form. The left-handed batter has impressed for Nepal A, including a half-century against Scotland on Saturday and fifties in both matches against Oman earlier in the warm-up schedule.
His domestic numbers have also strengthened his case. In the Jay Trophy two-day competition, Ishan scored 331 runs in six innings with three half-centuries. He then followed that with 286 runs in nine matches in the PM Cup, including two fifties.
Although this is his first ODI squad selection, Ishan is no stranger to the national team. He played T20 internationals for Nepal as far back as 2019 and has appeared in four T20Is, scoring 33 runs. At that stage, he had opened the batting for Nepal alongside then-captain Paras Khadka.
Nepal's selectors have now turned back to him in the 50-over setup at a crucial time, with the team preparing for another important League 2 phase at home.
The series against Scotland and the USA is a major one for Nepal's qualification hopes, and Ishan's inclusion adds another in-form batting option to the group.
Squad
Rohit Paudel (c), Dipendra Singh Airee (vc), Sandeep Lamichhane, Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh, Ishan Pandey, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Lalit Rajbanshi, Binod Bhandari, Nandan Yadav, Arjun Kumal, Karan KC
