Abject batting reason for Nepal’s debacle

Contrary to high expectations,the men’s national  cricket team of Nepal's performance was sorely disappointing in the  recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup League 2  triangular series in Canada.

They ended the series winless,much to our disbelief and chagrin. Incontrovertibly,they underperformed and made a total hash of things,squandering the chance to redeem themselves.

It was a tale of struggle and a run of poor form throughout for Head Coach Monty Desai boys.Surprisingly they  were blown out  by  familiar oppositions  against whom they  have had success in the past.

The three teams were equally matched based on past match results,strengths and experiences.

The series was wide open and boiled down to  consistency,focus,discipline, playing to the potential and going that extra yard. 

Home team Canada  got rewarded for their impressive and strong performance at the end.

The Canadians  performed consistently, got their act together  and sustained the  early momentum they built from start to end. 

They completely dominated the series and remained undefeated by  winning all four matches.On top of that,having  accumulated  maximum points they have valuted to the top of the table standings.

Team Nepal’s low quality  batting concern was exposed for the umpteenth time.The abject batting failure largely contributed to their downfall.

The  batting average of the  top six batters hit rock bottom.It was a clear case of batting  slump and batters inability to pull themselves out of it.

Indisputably,the batters  have not  done justice to their potential,despite getting opportunities,time and time again,to prove themselves. 

 

In fact,batting failure has become a regular feature and is  proving to be a major obstacle for the team going forward in pursuit of  lasting success.

To put it bluntly,batters have failed to make  the much needed headway when it comes to batting performance.Instead  they continue to battle inconsistency and poor  form.

Batting is all about individual performance.They are responsible for their failure to score,time after time. 

It does not appear that they are learning from failures and resorting  to appropriate action plans to iron out their  weak spots in order to improve their performance.

I wonder if they are lacking focus, commitment,self-belief,mindset,will power,confidence and seriousness to work on their shortcomings to transform  themselves into better and reliable batters.

More importantly,repeated mediocre performances,coupled with a losing streak in international competitions doesn't augur good for Nepal‘s ultimate dream of getting Test status.

Coach Desai who was the batting coach for the West Indies  in the past has not been able to address and fix  the  team’s  deflating batting performance.

At the moment,it seems increasingly clear that there is no definitive answer to the team’s batting woes.

Having said that,there is an urgent  need for improvement.Otherwise, frustration,humiliation,setbacks and disappointment will continue to pile up.

The present crop of batters are very young, promising and have a long road ahead of them.

However,they are well short of technical skills and confidence needed  to perform consistently at the highest level of competition internationally.

The sorry state of domestic cricket is one of the main reasons behind the national team’s poor performances.

The level of competitions played in the country is well  short of international standards.

To make matters worse,there is a lack of adequate infrastructure and facilities. 

Furthermore,absence of good quality pitches is impeding proper development of batters in terms of  skills and confidence.

In light of the situation,both batters and bowlers  must be provided constant international exposure  against quality opponents.Certainly, that will help their growth and  dramatically improve performance. 

The pressure of captaincy seems to be affecting the overall batting performance of young Rohit Paudel who has been inconsistent lately.To add, he has not been able to display leadership qualities and responsibilities. 

He has lagged behind when it comes to  motivating and inspiring  the team to  successful performances.

As I write this,Nepal  finally secured two  straight wins  against Oman in the recently concluded T20 Tri-series in Canada.

They conceded the first match to  Canada. However,they missed the opportunity to avenge the defeat in the second face off despite having the upper hand for the most part of the match. 

They had to pay a heavy price for the loss. Victory could have made them the series champions and ended their highly disappointing Canada tour on a positive note. 

As Team Nepal  heads to the United States for another round of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 3,a bigger challenge awaits them.

They  are up against formidable opponents in the likes of Scotland and the United States.Given their latest performance which can be described mediocre at best,they have a mountain to climb.

They must  turn things  around quickly. They have to be consistent and at their very  best to stand a chance and avoid further embarrassment.

The team’s  fortune will  largely depend on the batting that  has been unpredictable and substandard. Also fielding must improve drastically and bowlers have to work their way through to regain their mojo.