Kathmandu, Dec 18 (IANS): Former Australia cricketer Dav Whatmore was on Thursday appointed as head coach of Nepal. The former batsman, who played seven Tests for Australia in the 1979, had previously served in coaching capacity in almost all South Asian nations. Nepal would be his fourth country in the region.

While he has been the national coach of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh apart from Zimbabwe, he has also served as coach of Kerala Ranji Trophy team and served as director of the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru between 2007 and 2009. He has coached Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League as well.

"Dav is extremely keen to take on this new challenge, as he strongly believes Nepal has great talent and a very bright future in international cricket. Nepal is a beautiful country and Dav is looking forward to this new challenge with young talent in Nepal," said a Cricket Association of Nepal statement.

Whatmore guided Sri Lanka win the 1996 World Cup and also helped Bangladesh build into a strong cricketing nation during the 2003-07 period.