Nepal Under-19 team embarked the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2008 tour on Sunday with an aim of repeating the performances of the previous events.

The event in Malaysia will be Nepal’s fifth Youth World Cup. Nepal, the defending plate champions, is placed along with Australia, Sri Lanka and Namibia in Group C of the 16-team tournament beginning on Feburary 17.

Nepal is scheduled to play two official warm-up matches, first against Bermuda on February 12 at Kilat Club and second against Zimbabwe two days later at Royal Military College. Then, Nepal moves to Penang where it meets Sri Lanka (February 18), Australia (February 19) and Namibia (February 21) in preliminary league matches.

“It’s important for us to perform well,” captain Paras Khadka, who will be playing his third World Cup, said before departure. “Because of our performance in the past, everybody is expecting us to do well.”

Nepal defeated New Zealand and South Africa to win Plate Championship last time and also has the records of defeating nations like South Africa (2004), Pakistan and Bangladesh (2002) and Kenya (2000).

“Everyone has worked hard, and I believe if we all could repeat the determination, we can do as good as in the past,” Paras said adding that the team’s aim is to reach the Super League. After the first round, the top eight teams play in the Super League for the title whereas the bottom eight play in the plate championship.

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) organized a program on Sunday to wish good luck to the team. Speaking on the program, CAN president Binaya Raj Pandey remembered Nepal’s victory over Kenya in 2000 and said that they thought it would be the biggest victory for the country.

“You proved us wrong with even better victories,” he said. “It’s a tough challenge but I hope that you all will do your best for good results.” He requested the players to take the results of matches as a part of game but to employ everything they could do for the pride of the nation.

Jeevan Ram Shrestha, the member-secretary of National Sports Council (NSC), wished good luck to the team. “All Nepali are feeling proud for your participation in the World Cup,” he said. “Our past performance will put a lot of pressure on any opponent we take, and we all are looking ahead for one more better performance.”

Nepal U-19 Team: Paras Khadka (captain), Rahul Vishwakarma, Rom Shrestha, Aakash Gupta, Antim Magar, Gyanendra Malla, Raj Shrestha, Abhaya Rana, Sagar Khadka, Amrit Bhattarai, Mahesh Chhetri (wk), Chandra Sawad, Anil Mandal, Puspa Thapa, Subash Pradhan, Jagat Tamata (assistant coach), Roy Dias (coach) and Tarak Mani Dixit (manager).