Cricket Association of Nepal decides not to renew coach Monty Desai's contract

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has decided not to renew the contract with the head coach of the men's team, Monty Desai. He recently completed his two-year tenure and a CAN spokesperson said "it was not a sudden decision," but a "mutual agreement".

"Head coach of the men's national cricket team Shri Mrugang Jagdish Desai 'Monty Desai' was appointed with a tenure of two-year and the agreement has come to an end which we all are well aware of," CAN spokesperson Chhumbi Lama said in a release. "Also, it is hereby informed that the Cricket Association of Nepal has decided not to renew the contract.

"It was not a sudden decision. A board meeting held earlier had decided not to offer him a contract extension. There is no reason to think negatively of him, the decision was more of a mutual agreement."

Under Desai, Nepal had recently whitewashed USA 3-0 in T20Is a few months after their second appearance in the T20 World Cup, in June 2024 in the USA, where they were winless from three games. At the start of 2024, Nepal had also blanked Canada 3-0 in an ODI series at home. Before the ODI World Cup in 2023, Nepal also made their ODI Asia Cup debut but returned home without winning a match.

In the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2, Nepal are languishing at the second place from bottom with just two wins from 11 games in the eight-team tournament. A top-four finish in League 2 leads to automatic qualification for the ODI World Cup Qualifier.

Desai had earlier also worked with Afghanistan, West Indies and a couple of IPL teams in different coaching capacities.