Nepal ‘s batting in absolute shambles

The men’s national cricket team of Nepal wrapped up the ICC  Cricket World Cup  League 2 with a  humiliating defeat at the hands of hosts  Scotland in Scotland recently.

The home team comfortably cruised to a  8 wicket victory in just 19 overs after cheaply dismissing the opponent for a dismal total of 128  in 35.5 overs only.

Another day,another match and another batting slump , best sums up Nepal’s agonizing performance on the final day of the competition.Batting was at its worst.

The batting line-up collapsed like a pack of cards. Such substandard was the  performance that a negligible 71 runs came off the bat of seven top order batters  (from opener Kushal Bhurtel to wicket keeper Binod Bhandari).If you take away Aasif Sheikh’s individual score of 40, the six contributed an embarrassing 31 runs.

 

They batted though they were in a hurry to catch a bus. They were guilty of throwing away wickets and clearly lacked the ability to play big and long innings.

Defending a modest total was challenging and  never going to be  easy for Nepal.The bowlers were under  intense pressure from the outset and  had to be at their very best to  produce a stunning victory.

Frontline pace  attack duo of Sompal Kami and Karan KC efforts to stage a fightback went in vain as they came under assault  from the very first over.Unable to withstand the pressure they lost their way eventually 

Skipper Sandeep Lamichhane  fared no better and got pummeled. He ended up with the worst bowling figure in the series. In 6 overs he conceded 41 runs for 1 wicket,

The Scottish  openers  were determined and intent to unsettle  and dominate the bowlers,which they did  successfully.They made mincemeat of  Nepal’s bowling attack reaching the target in just 19 overs for the loss of  2 wickets.

With the loss,Nepal concluded the  disastrous Scotland triangular series with three defeats and one win.By and large, the performance was uninspiring,lackluster and sloppy.

Going into the series,expectation on Nepal was very high, but they were a total failure, failing to live up to their potential and perform  as a unit.As is well known,batting contributed largely to the debacle .

There is no excuse for the sub-par batting performance marked by inconsistency,poor shot selection,casual approach, lack of application and soft dismissal.

Let me  be blunt - the  poor quality, pathetic  and spineless batting was difficult to watch and made a mockery of  Team Nepal.The  poor batting standard is wholly unacceptable 

Admittedly, the kind of batting we witnessed will take Nepal nowhere internationally.The batters were low on confidence, incoherent, consistently struggled for form,and technically exposed.

Speaking of  the current crop of batters,they  are talented, no doubt, but are relatively young and inexperienced.They are lacking focus,self-confidence,confidence in their game, match temperament and mental strength. 

It appears though they are not learning from their mistakes. Match after match they seemed making the same mistakes over and over.It is imperative that they learn and grow through failures.They should be able to perform well under challenging circumstances. 

They have a long way to go with plenty of hard work to do 

before they can carve a niche for themselves in the national team. 

When all  is said and done,it boils down to the individual's performance, ability to deliver the goods and make the most of the chances that  come  his way.

Given the lack of depth and inexperience in batting,Cricket Association  of Nepal(CAN) and  selectors may have erred by overlooking experienced  former skipper Gyanendra Malla and Sharad Vesawkar to been name a few.The two are far from finished and still can be  a big asset for the team in the batting department.

The captaincy of Sandeep Lamichhane  has raised many eyebrows.He has been lackluster in the role and  not lived up to expectations.I feel handing the captain's armband  to him too early was a mistake.

Lack of  quality pitches both turning and fast  is one of the major hindrances  in the development  and production of both  batters and bowlers at domestic level.

There is an urgency to produce both quality seamers and spinners in good numbers so the batters get accustomed to both types of bowling .

The existing  docile pitches must be upgraded  to international standards.The  youngsters need the much-needed regular international exposure at the highest level against quality opponents.

In addition, there  is a need to raise the standard and quality of domestic tournaments in all formats of the game.

The management must address  the team’s  perennial batting woes before it deteriorates further.

Apart from that,infrastructures and facilities are woefully inadequate.It is a shame that  all these years CAN has lagged behind when it comes to upliftment of cricket in the true sense.They have done very little for the development and improvement of the game.

In other words, the game has suffered largely  due to maladministration,mismanagement, incompetence  and lack of vision on part of CAN for decades.

 

As a matter of fact, the cricket body  has always been mired  in petty politics and  controversies and run by incompetent, dishonest  and  unprofessionals who have made a laughing stock of themselves . 

CAN needs  ethical leadership ,good governance and the right people fully committed to achieving the  sustainable development goals.If nothing changes, everything stays the same.