Nepal must step up in Under-19 World Cup Cricket

The men’s Under-19 national cricket team of Nepal is geared up for  the  ICC  Under -19 Men’s  World Cup cricket championship starting on January 19th in South Africa 

The young guns open their  challenging fixture against  New  Zealand on January  21st. Obviously they  are in a tough  group  comprising  Pakistan,New Zealand and Afghanistan. 

For  Team Nepal  this is yet  another opportunity to prove themselves and make a meaningful impact.

They arrived in South Africa a little over two weeks ago prior to  start of the competition to prepare themselves for the challenge 

They played warm -up matches against Namibia,Scotland and the West Indies 

They got the better of Namibia in a thrilling encounter and  convincingly prevailed over Scotland twice.

Disappointingly Nepal’s final  tune-up match against the West Indies was washed out.

Team Nepal did get limited exposure to  the hard and bouncy nature of South African pitches.

Certainly they must have realized  the intimidating and challenging pitch conditions . 

The lack of  proper adjustment to the conditions makes it  physically  and mentally demanding and  exhausting for visiting teams on all fronts of the game.

There is no doubt that Nepal faces tough challenges, and  they have to play their best cricket to defy the odds to turn the corner.

Definitely the three wins Nepal registered in the tune-up matches must have  lifted their confidence,spirit and confidence. Also they built some momentum for themselves.

Going into the opener against New Zealand, Head Coach Jagat Tamata boys must ride on this  momentum.

When all is said  and  done,it all comes down to commitment,focus,application, technique,consistency, self-belief, resiliency and a positive mindset.

Given the immensity of the tournament,they  cannot afford to be complacent at any point of the game, be it batting or bowling or fielding

It is crucially important that they play to their strengths and potential throughout the competition.

Additionally, they have to display fighting spirit and be able to perform under pressure.

Looking back at the team's  dismal performance in the  ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2023, clearly they underperformed in every department of the game.

Both batters and bowlers failed to live up to the expectations and struggled mightily throughout.

 

The mediocre performance raised many eyebrows,and Coach Tamata was left with a big responsibility to reignite the fortunes of his side going into the World Cup.

I am pretty sure that the youngsters have learned from the Asia Cup setback and are doing everything to work on their shortcomings and improve their performance.

I am hoping to see a much improved performance from Team Nepal. Admittedly it  is not going to be easy. But they have to look forward to the challenge with optimism.The key is rising to the challenge and  playy to full potential.

Forget  not that  in the  2006 World Cup  the Under-19 team   made cricketing history  by winning  the  Plate championship in  Sri Lanka,defeating two Test playing nations, South Africa and New Zealand in the semi-finals and final. The accomplishment put Nepal on the world cricket map.

In fact it was the biggest  international sporting achievement in the sports history of Nepal.  

Also the Under-19 outfit finished  second behind Zimbabwe and  the West Indies in the Plate finals of the  2002 and 2008  World Cup  in New Zealand and Malaysia respectively.

The present outfit must  take inspiration from the past teams.It is something they have to strive to emulate .The importance of putting on a good performance consistently  cannot be overemphasized . 

Batters and bowlers have to  be at the peak of their  form.They must give their wholehearted  efforts, step up and take the game to the next level to stand  any  chance in the tournament.