Nepal falters in Doha World Cup League 3 Tri-series

Expectation was at an all time high when the men’s  national cricket team of Nepal took on the hosts the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America in the crucial ICC Men’s World Cup League 2 tri-series which concluded in Doha, United Arab Emirates recently.

The Nepali outfit skippered by Rohit Paudel entered the competition with high confidence,momentum on their side and having won the historic series against the West Indies and qualifying for the  2026 Men’s ICC Twenty20 World Cup,following their outstanding performance and undefeated streak in the Asia and East Asia Pacific Qualifier.

Considering their  highly successful outings in Oman,they were expected to deliver another winning performance and bolster their league standings.

With the One Day International (ODI)status at stake and  languishing second from the bottom,the  tri-series held immense importance for them.It provided them the big opportunity to move up the standings and cement their ODI status further.

They faced quite a challenge.There was virtually no room for mediocrity in every department of the game.They had to live up to their potential and expectations in order to come out triumphant against the formidable opponents.

They  needed to peak  their performance, apply  maximum effort and commitment to  achieve success.Furthermore, they had to  perform consistently throughout the series.Besides, they needed to combine individual brilliance and effective team work 

Disappointingly, expectations did not materialize as they faltered badly,losing all six matches meekly.

Once again batting  largely contributed to the team’s downfall.Despite batting improvement and outstanding batting  by a few batters,including an impressive century by skipper Rohit Paudel,they fell short of winning scores.

All rounder Dipendra Singh Airee was the top scorer for  the team with 175 runs. 

The crux of the problem was inconsistent batting by openers and middle order batters in the entire competition.

The bowling attack did not have the zing that was  required.The bowlers were  far from their best,lacking line,length,pace, accuracy, penetration and consistency.

Once again star  spinner Sandeep Lamichhane with eight wickets topped the bowling for Nepal.

As a matter of fact,comparatively Team Nepal’s performance in the ODI pales in comparison to Twenty20 in terms of performance and results.

It has been quite a struggle for them in the ODI  over the years to make significant progress and impactful performance.

So far the performance can be best summed up as incoherent, inconsistent  and sketchy.

To be fair,at  times they showed  signs of improvement and made headway. However,they failed  to sustain success.

As a consequence, they  have  lagged behind in establishing themselves  in the longer format of the game.

They have a lot of catching up to do with the elite teams.Analyzing and assessing the team’s  shortcomings and performances,there is plenty of  room for improvement on all aspects of the game. 

The batters have to rectify their weaknesses and work on finer points of batting techniques to become more effective, consistent and reliable. Additionally,they have to  enhance their mental game as well.

Likewise,there is a need for bowling improvement to consistently put themselves in a competitive position.The bowlers must work on  their weaknesses and smooth the edges in their bowling.

The fielding has improved somewhat but there is  still  some work left to be done in terms  of sharpness,agility and pace.

 

With the available talent pool in the country,talent scouts should continue to be on the lookout for budding players for the national squad who have the potential to strengthen both batting and bowling.

The Cricket Association of Nepal must step up to improve, consolidate and standardize domestic tournaments in line with international standards to help players hone their skills further. 

The teams have to be given maximum international exposure  against quality opponents on a regular basis.To add,international standard  quality pitches  must be prioritized for  batters and bowlers in domestic competitions.There is an urgency to safeguard Nepal’s ODI status that was earned through the hard way.