Dravid’s classy act after loss wins over Nepal cricketers
DRAVID WENT ON TO CONGRATULATE HIS COUNTERPART AFTER NEPAL SECURED A 19RUN WIN IN A LOWSCORING CLASH
NEWDELHI: The Nepal under-19 cricket team created history by defeating India in the Asia Cup U-19 tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. At the end of the match, Nepal had a surprise visitor in their camp. It was the Indian U-19 coach Rahul Dravid.
The ex-india captain, who is the head coach of the India U-19 team, went on to congratulate his counterpart Binod Kumar Das after Nepal secured a 19-run win in a lowscoring clash.
According to Espncricinfo, Dravid ‘walked up to his counterpart’ to congratulate the Nepalese cricket team, telling Kumar that Nepal ‘deserved’ to win their clash against India.
“Dravid has been very humble. He congratulated us. He said we deserved this win as much as anybody else. He also said we played better than anybody else in the tournament. We are happy he acknowledges our effort. We are thrilled to have his support with us,” Das said.
“We are all very excited about it because we have never beaten India at any level. Knowing India’s strength, it is one of the biggest wins for us,” he added. “This victory against India has come as a big boost.”
Having put up a mere 185 on a wicket assisting spinners, Nepal knew they will have to be disciplined in their line and lengths, and also put in a strong effort in the field.
“We can take pride in fielding and also in our bowling. Today was another example of executing that. India got off to a good start, but we managed to pull them back,” Das said.
Dipendra Singh Airee claimed 4 for 39 to help his team create history. “Dipendra is not our main spinner, but he has been pitching in good areas recently. He actually has been our stop-gap bowler but he was our best bowler today. Assisting him were our legspinner Sandeep [Lamichhanne], who has been bowling well throughout the tournament, and left-arm spinner Shahab Alam. Then Pawan Saraf, too, was accurate. It was a collective effort,” said Das, recalling the key factors in Nepal’s win.