Batting continues to be issue for Team Nepal

The West Indies A edged  out hosts Nepal to win the Twenty20  five match series in Kathmandu recently.

Despite losing the opener,the visitors bounced back strongly to win  three straight games to seal the series 3-2.

The home team got off to a dream start by winning the opening match in front of a massive  boisterous partisan crowd.

They turned in a strong collective effort, combining consistent bowling and batting performance to  stun the opposition in the first game.

At that point, things looked promising  for the local outfit  and it seemed as though they stood a good chance to win the series against a relatively formidable opponent.

However,their performances  did not go in line  with expectations.They failed to capitalize on the good start as they struggled,especially with the bat  and went on a  three- game losing streak.

 

The successive defeats put a damper on their hopes of  winning the series much to the disappointment of  the expectant home crowd.

They capped off the competition with a win in  the final game helping them narrow the deficit to 2-3 in the  series.

The team’s  overall performance could have been much better  with robust batting without a doubt. 

The series marked an end to Team Nepal’s hectic schedule giving players the much needed breathing space.

The  build-up to the 2024 Twenty20 World Cup   taking place in  the West Indies and the United States has been intense but productive for the team.

To be fair, overall  the  team’s  preparation  for the  premier tournament has been  satisfactory.

Currently Team Nepal is in training camp in Florida preparing for the upcoming T20 World Cup. 

On May 12th they leave for St.Vincent, West Indies  for the final  leg of the training and venue for their  World  Cup opener against the Netherlands on June 4th. 

In between they have a series of practice matches lined up in St.Vincent and Houston,Texas.It is hoped  that they make the most of their hectic schedule 

Since Head Coach Monty Desai took over the national team he has committed to building a winning team culture.

 

Although the team has made encouraging strides under him ,they still have a long way to go before they can elevate themselves from a position of pretenders to contenders in international cricket.

More importantly, it warrants good governance and significant investment on the part of  Cricket Association of Nepal(CAN) to deal with the short and long-term challenges. 

There is no hiding the fact that dismal and  inconsistent batting continues to  plague the team.

Going by their recent performances, the batters struggled to build  partnerships, post competitive totals and came  up short  in run chases.

Clearly they  lacked confidence, match temperament,discipline and ability to play under pressure.To add,they were exposed technically at times.

Skipper Rohit Paudel was the lone batter who  rose  to the occasion and excelled. He was at the top of his game and batted  consistently throughout.

It is imperative that batters learn from their mistakes and develop strategies to improve batting performance to succeed. 

The  onus is on frontline batters to  step up,improve their performance and turn things around to make an impression in the T20’s biggest platform.

Having   served as the batting coach for the West Indies national  team in 2019,Head Coach Desai faces  challenges to remedy  the batting  flaws undoubtedly.

The bowlers have been performing consistently all along,but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Given the enormity of the challenge,they have to bring out the  absolute best. 

In the end, the value of  teamwork and collective individual brilliance matters and  will make a world of difference when it comes to performance and results.