Nepal women team underperforms

The recently concluded Women’s  Twenty20 Triangular series, organized  by the Cricket  Association of Nepal in Kathmandu,was a huge disappointment for  Nepal.

Impressive Thailand convincingly prevailed over Netherlands for the title.They ended the tournament with five wins and one defeat.

 

The Netherlands finished  second with four  wins and two defeats,both of  which came at the hands of Thailand. However,they managed  to end  the champions’ winning streak by winning a game.

Team Nepal went into the competition confident and strongly motivated to prove themselves in front of  supporters.Home fans had high hopes for what was to come.

Unarguably,they faced formidable opponents in Thailand and the Netherlands.The odds were stacked against them, and they were up against a daunting challenge.

They were fully aware of the fact that they stood a chance of upsetting the apple cart only if they consistently performed at their best.They had to bring their ‘A’ game.

The key to their success was seizing  the moment,striving to transcend expectations and making the most of it.

Contrary to expectations,they fell flat,falling well short of the performance standard.

Unable to deal with the opponents strengths and consistent performance they wrapped up the tournament without a win, losing six  straight games.

 

Given the ODI status,firepower,strengths and experience of both opponents ,it was never going to be easy for the hosts.They had to rise to the occasion,put their best efforts and  perform exceptionally well to overcome the odds to achieve  success.

That said,no one thought they would fizzle out winless.They were expected to put up a  much better performance and even win a few matches.

 

Let us not forget that they have been playing cricket under very difficult and challenging circumstances on the domestic front.

Their passion and desire  for cricket,coupled with dogged determination to  bring glory to their country internationally have kept them playing the sport.

They did their best,but they could not beat their opponents,who played to their strengths to secure victories.

Speaking of the overall performance,the team’s biggest weakness was the batting, which largely contributed to their whitewash.There is plenty of room for improvement. 

In order for the team to become competitive and stand a realistic chance against formidable opponents in all formats of the game,the batting must  improve significantly and batters  have to be more consistent. Besides, technical inadequacies  need to be addressed. 

Lack of necessary infrastructure and training facilities,absence of innovative players development initiatives,limited international exposure,and the poor state of domestic cricket have hindered the development of women’s cricket and impacted their performance on the field.

Players must remember that they are still on a learning curve.They have to fully capitalize on opportunities to compete  in competitions,refine their skills,learn the finer aspects of the game,and work on their shortcomings to become better players.

Upcoming players Rajmati Airee,Rewati Dhami,Manisha Upadhyaya, Alisa Yadav and Rachana Chaudhary made their T20 debut for the senior team.

Amongst the debutants Manisha Upadhyaya impressed and made her mark as a bowler by claiming 7 wickets. She was the highest wicket taker for Nepal.

Experienced bowler Sita Rana Magar had the best bowling figures in one match against Netherlands.In a display of outstanding bowling,she scalped 5 wickets for 12 runs.

Skipper of  Under-19 women’s national team Puja Mahato topped the batting average by accumulating 134 runs with the help of  a brilliant 62 off 51 balls against Netherlands in one of the three matches.

The series provided players valuable match experience.They will need more similar competitions with regularity in different playing conditions for experience and exposure.

Given the talent and potential of players on the team,they are capable of performing to a higher level.