Nepal looking to learn the intricacies of cricket
Although still an ICC Associate nation, Nepal, like many of its Asian neighbours, is blessed with an enormous bounty of cricketing talent and an equally large following for the sport. What they lack is the international experience that regional counterparts like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh possess in abundance. To meet this end, they recently travelled to Sri Lanka, and pitted themselves against several local sides.
The two-week tour saw them register wins against two Western Province teams and a Puttalam- Gampaha Combined XI side, while suffering only a solitary loss to the Moors Under 23 team.
The success of this brief trip was clearly visible through the large land-locked country’s performance at the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which they clinched with an eight-wicket victory over the USA in the final. During the tournament they announced themselves spectacularly with an unbeaten run, reeling off a previous 32-run win over the USA, a five-wicket win over Singapore, an eight-wicket win over Tanzania and a 10-wicket win over Malaysia.
Nepal’s coach Pubudu Dassanayake, speaking to Cricinfo.com following his team’s finals’ victory expressed satisfaction over their performance and the fact that they are now a step closer to qualifying for the 2015 World Cup, after being promo- ted to Division Three.
“Cricket is very popular in Nepal. It is even more popular than football,” team manager Basanta Raj Satyal explains.
“The problem is that though the school system is getting on we do not have a club culture at all. The cricket structure is based on schools and from there onwards you have the district level and then you go into the national side.”
However, this has not stymied the progress of players like left-arm spinner Basanta Regmi, team captain Paras Khadka and Subash Khakurel, Regmi in particular had an extremely productive expedition in Malaysia, racking up a tournament-high tally of 21 wickets at an average of 6.66, securing him the Player- of-the-Tournament award. He also captured the Man-of-the-Match trophy in the finals with a devastating exhibition of spin bowling, where he scorched the Americans with a five-wicket haul.
Regmi was more than adequately complemented in the bowling attack by leg break bowler Shakti Gauchan, his brother Sanjam Regmi, who bowls off breaks and young left-arm medium pacie Amrit Bhattarai.
In the batting department, the team is gifted with the prodigious talent of swashbuckling 19-year-old Khakurel. Khakurel smashed 115 off 142 balls in an innings which featured 10 fours and two sixes to register only the second century in WCL division 4 cricket.
His opening partner Anil Mundal, skipper Khadka and Gyanendra Malla were also no slouches with the bat, with each of them striking significant knocks in Malaysia.
Sri Lanka has played a crucial role in the development of these youngsters, with it being a frequent testing ground for them as well as the provider of the team’s former coach, Roy Dias, in addition to Dassanayake.
Satyal says that both coaches, along with their matches in Sri Lanka, have brought immense growth to the team and have helped shape the side into a more professional unit.
While in Sri Lanka, skipper Khadka said that the team was using the Sri Lankan tour as a stepping stone to “put up a good show in Malaysia.”“The team has started doing really well since 2000. We have as a team, slowly but surely improved, it’s just a matter of pushing harder to go to a higher level,” he said.
He emphasized that his role as a captain in this transitional period was to play with a heightened sense of responsibility and lead by example. He adds that his task is made easier by the support and talent of the young brood he leads.
“Skill-wise there are a lot of things that need to be addressed but we are not that far behind. It is just a case of exposure. For a team to develop you can’t just play one tournament a year, but have to play throughout the year against better teams.”