Former Nepali national team captain Gyanendra Malla has said that he is always ready to play cricket for the country. Speaking to media persons, Malla, who has been participating in the training camp at Tribhuvan University ground Kirtipur since Tuesday, said that he was saddened when the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) removed him from the captaincy without informing him.
I didn’t come to cricket just to be a captain. But I have given many years for Cricket. It is sad to be removed for various reasons. This made it difficult for me personally. According to the captain, various allegations were made that the player’s problem was being addressed. Speaking of self-esteem, I was even more embarrassed, ‘said Malla.
He also said that he had never been against the CAN board. “We have not done anything to demean the board. If we did that, we would go the other way. Maybe we didn’t play. We played without getting anything for so many years. Now the situation is respectable, we asked to increase the same service facility.
Malla also said that there was a problem between CAN and the players due to the player classification. He said that there was no rift between the players of the team and expressed his commitment to play for the country together.
A recent board meeting of CAN had removed Malla as captain and Dipendra Singh Airee as vice-captain and appointed Sandeep Lamichhane as captain. CAN had also decided not to keep four players, including Malla, on central contracts for the first six months of 2022.
After an agreement was reached between the disgruntled players and CAN on Sunday, the players including Malla are engaged in closed training to prepare for the T20 World Cup global selection. From Tuesday, coach Pubudu Dassnayake and all the players called for preliminary selection by the CAN selection committee have joined the closed training.