Nepal must demonstrate ability to produce, win matches.

 

Currently the men’s national cricket team of Nepal is in Canada to play a series of matches starting 1st July before they head to Scotland.

The  tour  starts with two friendly  matches in Ontario,followed by two ODIs(50-Over) against the Canadian national team on  July 4th  and 5th.

The visitors got off to a winning start against MLCC XI in a 50-over match at the time of writing this article.They won by 69 runs.They are scheduled to play a T20 match against Ontario tonight(July 2nd).

The warm-up win was  a morale booster for the team and, more importantly ,riding on  this  momentum against Canada in the two ODIs is a must for a positive outcome.

Players get yet another chance to showcase  their talent and shine.They have to put in extra effort to work on their shortcomings to minimize it.Getting into a positive  frame of mind and  achieving hundred percent focus and concentration on their performance is a must.

From Canada they  fly to Scotland to compete in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 tri- series featuring Nepal, Namibia and Scotland.

As per the format of the competition, Nepal will play a total of  four  matches two times each against Scotland and Namibia. 

The tour comes close on the heels  of the senior team’s somewhat disappointing performance in the aforementioned competition held in Houston, Texas,US recently.

The United States, Nepal  and Oman competed for maximum points at stake.In the standings Oman

sits on top with 44 points,followed by Scotland(28 points) ,United Arab Emirates (26 points),United States of America (23 points) Nepal(15 points), Namibia(14 points) and Papua New Guinea (2 points).

It was a mixed bag for Nepal in terms of performance and result.They concluded the league with one win, one draw and two defeats. 

On the batting front,there were some encouraging  signs.The Sheikh brothers Aasif(62,18 & 61) and Aarif (63 & 66) stole the batting  honors with two half centuries each from 3 and 2 matches respectively.

Opener Kushal Bhurtel(56), highly rated middle-order batsman Rohit Paudel(62) and emerging  batter Dev Khanal(54) also scored one half century each.

Despite a flurry of half centuries,the inconsistency in their performance has not helped the team achieve the goal.In other  words, consistency is a key element missing  in Nepal's batting.

In contrast,the bowlers have been consistently performing all along.They were up to the task in Houston. Experienced speedster Karan KC made a big impact capturing 13 wickets.

Skipper and leg spinner Sandeep Lamichanne was far from his best but still managed to scalp 7 wickets,while medium pacer and experienced Sompal Kami ended up with 4 wickets,

Experienced all rounder Dipendra Airee was a disappointment  based on his performance. His contribution was limited to 2 wickets, and he struggled for runs.

Having earned just four points,Nepal  has 15 points and is third from the bottom. Although they have only played 16 matches  compared to Oman’s 36,they cannot drop points  in  order to consolidate their position and give themselves a chance in the competition.

The top three advance to the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier,while the bottom four will have to compete n the 2022  ICC World Cup Qualifier play off. 

Nepal is still  in contention  and can emerge as one of the three top teams in the group.I am cautiously optimistic about their chances.

Having said that,everyone agrees  that Nepal as a unit must turn in  a vastly improved  performance and make a quick turnaround to finish in the top three.

It is doable but requires a lot of hard work,commitment and collective effort. However, I am a little  skeptical because we haven’t seen the kind of performance to convince us that they can do it so far.

Given Nepal’s  performances in recent internationals,they have been very inconsistent.They have failed to achieve back -to- back decent performance.

The fact of the matter is, Nepal has not lived up to expectations.Overall the performance  has been a tale of mediocrity , inconsistency and brittle batting, coupled with lack of confidence,composure and temperament.

Batting has been Nepal’s  Achilles’ tendon for a considerable period of time.Unfortunately it continues to be so to date. 

Since the retirement of former skipper of the national team Paras Khadka, batting has gone from bad to worse. The void left by him is yet to be filled.

In hope  of improving and solidifying the batting department,national selectors have  kept reshuffling the  batting order and tried out numerous batsmen time and time again but to no avail.

Overlooking highly experienced former skipper Gyanendra Malla for the Houston,Canada  and Scotland series was a blunder on the part of national selectors.

He might  have gone through a lean  phase lately but he is far from  finished.He certainly provides depth to the team's rickety batting order and motivation to the young team.

The selectors have gone for fresh young  blood by picking   uncapped all rounder Basir Ahamed and hard hitting Aadil Ansari, 

Top-order batting is still fragile and  a major concern for Nepal.The new breed of batsmen in the likes of Kushal Bhurtel,Rohit  Paudel,Dev Khanal,the Sheikh brothers Aarif and Aasif and many more  have the potential to achieve great heights .

Success can be attainable unless they transform themselves  into accomplished batsmen. Keeping that in mind,they have to work on their  technical flaws,be disciplined,amp up self confidence, believe in themselves and undertake plenty of hard work and practice towards improving performance.

Also they must overcome the pressure,rigor and expectations of international cricket. In addition,there is an urgency to embrace the challenge with greater  responsibility.They have to go the extra yard with batting.

 

Young Lamichhane must not let captaincy pressure impact his performance.He should not forget that his performance is key to the team’s success.

Nepal has to demonstrate its ability to produce and win matches collectively.