Nepal has uphill task against Afghanistan

Just when you start to think,perhaps, batsmen are finally starting to find  their touch, they come  down crashing like a house of cards, the sense of disappointment and frustration  is so overwhelming.

All of us got a bitter dose of  reality after Team Nepal’s latest debacle against Scotland in the World Cup Qualifiers.

The defeat was triggered by a disastrous batting that put the match beyond Nepal’s reach.What we witnessed was poor, reckless and irresponsible batting.

It did not come as a complete surprise to me. The fact of the matter is  that the team is susceptible to batting collapses. I am afraid I have lost count of all the times they have made a mess of batting.

There are no excuses  for the way the top-order batted against Scotland.It was a culmination of everything-rash strokes,questionable judgement, poor  temperament and lack of confidence.

The opening partnership continues to be a huge,huge problem for the team to top it off. The constant failure of a good opening is  severely hurting the team most.

Experienced opener Gyanendra Malla  form is a big concern.He has been going through a  dreadful run of poor form.He has  got opportunities  more than required despite  failures but his struggle to score runs continues unabated.

I cannot understand why the team management is reluctantly sticking with him. It makes sense to find a suitable replacement for him. When he is failing so badly,why not substitute him with the right batsman.

Either the management,including Skipper Paras Khadka is  biased against other batsmen or there is no genuine batsman to replace him.

The management has to act in the interest of the team not individuals. It appears though, Captain Khadka has no intentions to axe Malla despite his poor form.If so,then, he is making a huge mistake,

As for the other batsmen, they have clearly lacked commitment , right frame of mind, consistency, character, flair  and confidence to make a lasting impression.For the most part, it was a tale of throwing away wickets in a haste.

Skipper Khadka was the lone batsman who stood up and  batted intelligently. He made a substantial contribution to the team’s paltry total.

He  ran out of partners, however,got some invaluable support from the tailenders. After his  fighting  knock of 60  plus  ended, Nepal’s hope of  notching  up a respectable target went up in smoke, as well.

The target of 149   set by Nepal was too small for a team  like Scotland with a decent batting strength.

On the other hand, undaunted by the challenge , Nepali bowlers hoping for a miracle put in an impressive performance and had the opposition  fight for every run.

This time, however, there was no repeat of  the miracle  that we saw in Namibia. At the end,  after some anxious moments Scotland overtook the paltry target in the 41st over and 4 wickets at hand.

Given the situation, the spinning trio Sandeep Lamichhane, Basant Regmi and Lalit  Rajbhansi bowled reasonably well.

Nepal  is pitted against Afghanistan in a very intriguing and tough duel. Both teams are winless and in a must win situation to keep their hopes alive in the competition.

Afghanistan has a clear edge over Nepal. Going by Nepal’s shaky, unpredictable performance, I really don’t  fancy their chances. I hope I am wrong Should they come out victorious, I will be very surprised.