Team Nepal's struggle story in New Zealand

In hindsight, the national cricket team of Nepal’s performance in the recently concluded ICC World Cup 50 over qualifier in New Zealand was a huge disappointment. Much to the dismay of the fans, they paid the price for underperforming.

I have to say, our boys squandered another big opportunity to make a   very big statement. The missed chance proved very costly for them at the end. Some have criticized players for being over confident, complacent and not performing to potential. There is some truth in that.

The team’s   mediocrity, raggedness and inconsistency   were   in full display   throughout the competition. There is absolutely no excuse for the poor result. The fact is that they performed badly and   were unable to live up to expectations.

It   looked like they were far from   prepared for the challenge. They started off on a losing note to the United Arab Emirates and never recovered. They did get slew of   chances but   slumped to   consecutive   defeats, ending their qualification hopes.

Team Nepal had all of the momentum   they needed going into the championship, however, they completely failed to cash in.  Surprisingly, they found the going tough and struggled to make an impact in the game. Unlike past years, they never displayed signs of another heroic fight back.

Though they played against familiar opponents, they did not put any real   resistance as a team and were unable to withstand the pressure put on them. There were a few notable individual performances with bat and ball, but all in vain.

The   spineless   performance   no doubt is an eye-opener and   proved that the team    has   plenty   of hard work ahead of them. There is a need   for   them to greatly improve on all fronts. It would be fair to say that cricketers lacked the mental toughness and technical adjustments to succeed.

Poor batting and average bowling largely   contributed to the debacle, by and large.  Nepal’s record in the 50 over format is nothing short of abysmal, with this result. There is no doubt in my mind that Nepali cricket has a very long way to go.

The stakes   were high for Coach   Dasanayake   boys   in the tournament. In success, Nepali cricket would have seemingly benefitted immensely. Sadly, that did not happen.

The team had under taken a   decent   preparation for the competition   and was   expected to put up yet another noteworthy performance. The rest is history.

If there is a silver lining to the dismal result, it’s the rich talent pool we have. That being said, Nepali cricket has struggled and failed to harness and maximize   the talent.

Our cricketers deserve a   lot   of   credit   for their unflinching commitment   to the game under challenging circumstances. They have   put Nepal cricket   firmly on the   world map.

The   latest setback   has   once again   highlighted the needs and importance of a meaningful   infrastructure, strong domestic cricket structure, proper planning and organization,   development of cricket at grass roots level, adequate and constant international exposure and good governance.

But much of it   depends upon   Cricket Association of Nepal’s (CAN) willingness to working toward the improvement and development of the game. Regrettably, they have lacked vision, integrity, transparency, commitment, accountability, professionalism   and honesty so far.

For now, Team Nepal   must put the disappointment behind and seriously focus on the 2014 ICC Twenty20 World Cup.