Kaniska Chaugai, the captain of Nepal’s Under-19 team that won the plate championship of Youth World Cup in Sri Lanka early this year, was on limelight for the week with three honors coming his way.
The Australian Ambassador for Nepal Graeme Lade presented him a cricket bat personally signed by Australian captain Ricky Ponting amidst a ceremony on Friday. The bat was made available by the Foundation which was established by Snowy Mountains Engineering Coporation.
Nepal representative of the foundation Himalaya Pandey also presented him a letter written by Ponting. “I understand that you have been selected as the recipient of a bat which I signed on the request of the SMEC foundation to be presented to a promising young player of Nepal,†Ponting wrote. “ I would like to congratulate you on your selection and hope that you will use the bat to improve your game still further in the months and years ahead.â€Â
Lade, who admitted himself a cricket fan, said Kaniska’s performance in U-19 was impressive and hoped that he would lead Nepal to a Test match in future. He also promised to support Nepali cricket in future.
The function was attended by among others CAN vice-president TB Shah, national coach Roy Dias and other members of CAN.
The next day, Kaniska was chosen the recipient of the Dasrath Chand Best Player award by National Sports Council. He received the prize money of Rs. 15,000 with a trophy while athlete Nirmala Bhandari and Judo player Lila Adhikari were also honored in the function. The prize in established in memory of martyr Dasrath Chand.
On Sunday, he was nominated in two of four categories for the Best Player 2062 award to be presented by Nepal Sports Journalists Forum (NSJF) next month. He was nominated with senior captain Binod Das, opening batsman Paresh Lohani, footballer Pradeep Maharjan and athlete Devi Bahadur Basnet for the Best Male Player award.
He was also nominated in Best Young Player along with fellow cricketer Gyanendra Malla, athlete Keshari Chaudhary, footballers Ranjit Shrestha and Chetan Ghimire. The prize is one of the most prestigious award in sports in Nepal.
Along with Kaniska, his coach Roy Dias has also been nominated for the Best Coach of the Year award along with coaches from athletics, football and badminton.