Nepali Cricket’s Crashing Dreams

Ujjwal Acharya, The Kathmandu Post, August 7

Every time Nepali national cricket team leaves the country, it instills high hopes in all Nepalis. There are always opportunities and there is always somewhere up to go; and normally a step ahead means dreams coming true. But, unfortunately, the dream always crash down with a defeat in the crucial match after a series of impressive wins. This has been a story of Nepali cricket for the last six years.

Nepal has lost four semifinals in the last four years and every defeat has deprived Nepal of an opportunity to go higher in the world cricket. In 2005, Fiji defeated Nepal in the semifinal of the World Cup Qualifying Series Division II that ended Nepal’s hopes of playing in the main World Cup qualifiers.

Then it was the 2006 ACC Trophy semifinal loss against the UAE that deprived Nepal of playing the heavyweights of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, in the one-day international event called Asia Cup. And this year, Nepal lost to Afghanistan in the semifinal of the World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey failing to get promoted for Division 4. Of late, it is the semifinal loss against the UAE in the semifinal of the ACC Trophy Elite that once again ended the hopes of playing in Asia Cup.

With that history, Nepal has been nicknamed chokers. In Nepal, people either believe we are unlucky or they say we have already got more success than we deserve so there should be no hope for more. The cliché is as it came to limelight, there will be politics.

Of course, there are numerous problems to step further than this in cricket. We lack many things, including the infrastructure and events. ‘What after cricket’ is a big issue with professionalism being a distant star. But the biggest of all shortcomings, it seems at this phase, is the vision to develop cricket among the cricket administrators.

Since the late 90s, when Nepal performed well in international events after getting associate membership of International Cricket Council (ICC), the world cup qualification has been a buzzword, even an aim. The aim is stranded; for sure it will not be fulfilled for 2011 edition, and the administrators are already expressing hopes for 2015.

But there are just hopes and dreams. Other than dreaming and hoping that the players, with their largely raw talents, will somehow perform magically to do that. There is neither plan nor any worked-out vision on how we are going to help the players achieve that.

For the association that struggles even to release the annual calendar of events, a detailed worked-out plan for five or ten years is surely an uphill task, especially when there are no professional people to do it.

Despite being the oldest sports association of the country, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) is an unprofessionally-run body where the executive members are not only expected to work out plans and policies but also to take responsibility of managing lunch sets of players during events. CAN lacks professional officeholders, and it’s a sad aspect hindering the development of the game at the time when the sports is asking for professional approach and other nations quickly beginning to progress.

There has never been any election in CAN and the committees are always formed by the National Sports Council (NSC) – the government body that controls sports. For ad-hoc committees, the primary focus is more on making the NSC happy than anything else. Whenever a new committee is formed, they promise election at the earliest possible date, as the current committee did, and then they forget it.

And, the new committee always has to begin from scratch because there is neither paperwork of plans or policies, if any, nor any CAN staff know what the previous president and the general secretary were doing. Since 1998, when I began reporting cricket, CAN has been an association with the theme of ‘doing it as it comes’ rather than ‘planning it before it comes.’

Roy Dias – the Sri Lankan coach for the last eight years – also lacks plans for cricket development. Despite questions being raised about him lately, he has been inspirational, especially with age-group teams. When he is saying that he has no intention to extend his stay longer, we have suddenly realized that we should have prepared a Nepali coach under him who could have undertaken the caretaking jobs.

We could have given him one or two regular assistant coaches and, at times when we felt our team could have done better without Dias, we would have an opportunity to try Nepali coach. At least, in that way, we would have by now a coach well equipped to take charge of a team.

On the part of players, they have failed in crunch time and they need to realize that. It’s easy to blame that there has been nothing to gain by playing cricket; or that they have not been well paid but they can press more when you move ahead. And, the very simple yet harsh answer from CAN to those players should be that either they play or leave.

The biggest disadvantage of Nepali cricket at this time is it lacks the players’ base. Because of lack of plans and policies in the past, we continued playing the same 25-30 players in all international cricket, even age-groups, and never thought of shuffling players. Our national team is always the same – be it very important event or fun event. And now, there are just these players fit enough for national team.

I know it’s easy to point finger at others or show the problems but not easy to find solutions. But, at least for now, there is a very easy solution to get better in cricket and that is working out a detailed plan, something that they teach you the first thing to do after you set your aim.

Kaula Lumpur diary August 1

Pramod Pokhrel, The Himalayan Times

Dias to stay

Nepal cricket coach Roy Luke Dias said he wanted to leave the job only after winning a trophy with the senior team. “The senior side has never won a trophy and I wanted them to win this time around,” said Dias, who had announced the tour as the last one of his seven-year Nepal stay. “I said so just to boost the team’s morale,” he clarified. “But my contract is also ending in March and the senior team does not have any match till then, so it might be my last match with them,” he added. “I have offers from other countries also but Nepal is always my first choice as I have a different kind of affiliation with Nepal,” said Dias. Asked about the senior team’s failures in winning the trophy, Dias said: “The only reason is the lack of the tournaments.”

Shy Dipla

Nepali cricket team member Dipendra Chaudhary is of shy nature. Known as Dipla to his friends, Chaudhary hesitated to dance with singer Amlia during the gala dinner on Wednesday night. Amlia invited him to the stage for a dance and Chaudhary along with some other Nepali players joined her, but Chaudhary was so shy to dance with the singer that he just stood at the stage with smiles on his face.

Rest for team

The Nepali team did not participate in any kind of practice on Thursday, on the eve of their crucial semi-final match against the UAE. The players remained at the hotel. Some went to swimming pool, some enjoyed music at their rooms and some joined the gymnasium.

Kaula Lumpur diary July 31

Pramod Pokhrel, The Himalayan Times

Das lauded

Hong Kong coach Aftab Habib, who proposed Nepali team skipper Binod Das to approach the English County, has again praised the fast bowler. On Wednesday, the Pakistan-born Habib – who played one Test match for England – compared Das with South African alrounder Shaun Pollock. Habib also inquired about Das’ family and game. Asked how he felt when Habib compared him with Pollock, Das said: “I am happy to be compared with such a great player.”

Mobile banned

Match referee Abdul Sami of Pakistan banned the use of the cell phones during the match on Wednesday. Sami summoned the coaches, captains and team managers from both the sides and ordered them not to use the cell phones during the match. The match referee also checked the wicketkeepers’ gloves before the start of the match. This was the first time the keeping gloves were examined.

Problem in eye

While the Nepali team was playing against Kuwait on Wednesday, Nepali medium pace bowler Amrit Bhattarai was seen rubbing ice-pack on his eye for the whole day. Bhattarai has a little swelling over his eye and has been suffering from some problems with his right eye and doctors have advised him to rub ice over the effected area.

Accident again

The Nepali team escaped with an accident in Malaysia on Wednesday. The accident took place few metres away from the Nepali team bus when the team was on its way to the Selangor Turf Club to play the fourth match of the ACC Trophy Elite Cup against Kuwait. This time around, a motorcycle hit a car, which was running parallel to the Nepali team bus. The players inside the bus got frightened. On Monday, a motorcycle had hit the Nepali team bus while the team was leaving for Kinara Oval to play against Singapore.

Quite quiet

The Nepali dressing room on Wednesday was quite quiet. The reason was the absence of Sanjam Regmi. The one of the humorous characters of the team, Regmi was on the field today after he was included in the playing eleven in place of Basanta Regmi. Subhash Sharma, who attends every match of Nepal, also felt Sanjam’s absence. “The dressing room seems lifeless today,” he commented.

Kaula Lumpur diary July 30

Pramod Pokhrel, The Himalayan Times

Basanta worried

The players in Kuala Lumpur have different worries. Some are worried about the matches, while others think about their future as a cricketer. But to Basanta Regmi, it’s study. After passing SLC exams in first division this year, Basanta, 16, thinks he wasted so many years playing cricket. Now he is excited and knows that it is never too late to begin. “I lost so many years. Now I will study,” says Regmi.

Nickname

Out of the 14 players who are taking part in the ACC Trophy Elite Cup in Malaysia, only one player does not have a nick name. And he is none other than Paresh Lohani. The players use the nick names to call their friends except for Lohani. “I don’t know the reason why I am the only one who doesn’t have a nickname,” says opener Lohani. The list of other players’ nicknames goes like this: Sanjam Regmi (Shane), Raj Kumar Pradhan (Baby or Bablu), skipper Binod Das (Buddy), Dipendra Chaudhary (Dipla), Mehboob Alam (MA), vice captain Paras Khadka (Bhane), Basanta Regmi (Hali), Shakti Gauchan (Dracula), Gyanendra Malla (Gyane), Kanishka Chaugain (Karetha), wicketkeeper Mahesh Chhetri (Kale) and Sharad Vesawkar (Khaire).

Meditation

The Nepali cricketers assemble at Team Manager Pawan Agrawal’s room at 7am every morning. The meeting is neither to discuss the team strategy nor to talk about the game of cricket. The players come to Agrawal’s room for meditation. The players go to have breakfast only after a 15-minute meditation every morning. The players are enjoying the meditation and Agrawal says he started the meditation for the players as per the advice of psychologist. Assistant coach Samsung Jung Thapa also joins the class, but coach Roy Luke Dias prefers to stay away from that.

Kaula Lumpur diary July 29

SMS for Alam

After the not-so-impressive performance in the previous two matches, Nepali team alrounder Mehboob Alam got his line and length right on Monday. The secret is: Girlfriend’s SMS. Alam received a text message this morning from his girlfriend in which she had requested him to perform well in the tournament. “The SMS encouraged me to perform well on Monday,” said Alam, who took 3-25 off 10 overs against Singapore.

Bus accident

The bus carrying the Nepali team to Kinara Oval on Monday met with an accident when a motorcycle hit the running bus. The Nepali team members escaped uninjured, but the motorcyclist, identified as an Indonesian national Mohammed Safin, was injured severely. He got serious injuries on his head and leg.

Basanta injured

Left-arm spinner Basanta Regmi was injured while fielding against Singapore during the ACC Trophy Elite Cup match at the Kinara Oval on Monday. He has been ruled out of Nepal’s last league match against Kuwait on Wednesday. Coach Roy Luke Dias said Regmi would not be able to play against Qatar but hoped he would return for other matches. “I think he will be fit for the semi-finals,” said Dias.

Pramod Pokhrel, The Himalayan Times

Kaula Lumpur diary July 28

Pramod Pokhrel, The Himalayan Times

Dias’ advice

Nepali team coach Roy Luke Dias analysed the players’ performance in the last two matches and asked them not to repeat the same mistakes in the coming matches. Dias did so during the team meeting on Sunday, on the eve of the match against Singapore. He also asked the players to fight till the last ball of the innings. “You cannot say anything about cricket, so you have to fight till the end,” he instructed the players. He also asked Mehboob Alam to focus on the tournament. “Forget Jersey and focus in this tournament,” he said. Alam had created history by taking all the 10 wickets against Mozambique in the ICC Division V in Jersey. “This is the most balanced side and it would be unfortunate if we don’t win the trophy this time,” he warned.

Players get rest

The Nepali cricket team got rest on Sunday after they won back-to-back matches in the ACC Trophy Elite Cup. Coach Roy Luke Dias declared Sunday as a holiday, which came as a great relief for the players who looked tired after playing two matches on as many days. Nepal defeated Hong Kong on Friday and Qatar on Saturday. However, the players spent some time at the Gym and swimming pool to cope with the Kuala Lumpur heat.

No to cell phones

Coach Roy Luke Dias was not happy with the players’ excessive use of mobile phones in Kuala Lumpur. “We have to learn from the Sri Lankan players, who are against the use of cell phones during the tournament,” he told the players. Most of the players of the Nepali team in Malaysia have mobile phones with them, but they have not been seen using them at the dressing room.

Nepal eye historic win against UAE

Pramod Pokhrel, The Himalayan Times, Kuala Lumpur, July 31:

After winning the four league-round matches impressively, Nepal are eyeing the berth in the final and the Asia Cup when they play against the United Arab Emirates in the semi-finals of the ACC Trophy Elite Cup here on Friday.

The finalists will qualify for Asia the 2010 Cup, where they will join Asian giants India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the one-day form of the game. Nepal had qualified for the 2002 Asia Cup, but the Asian Cricket Council scrapped the edition because of the tensions between India and Pakistan.

So far the Nepali team has preformed well in Malaysia and the players are on high morale for the match against one of the tough opponents. Nepal finished atop Group B, while the UAE advance to the last four as the Group A runners up.

Nepal have never beaten the UAE in the one-day form of the game in their five previous meetings. In three-day format of the game, Nepal defeated the UAE by 172 runs in Kathmandu, while the junior Nepali cricketers have beaten the UAE on all occasions.

Going by the statistics, Nepal need to put up a good fight at the Selangor Turf Club, where they have won both the matches played this time around.

Coach Roy Luke Dias have decided to give the opening responsibility to Paresh Lohani and Kanishka Chaugain, while he is including leg spinner Sanjam Regmi in place of Raj Kumar Pradhan to stop the left-handed UAE batsmen from scoring freely.

“The boys have put up a good show in all the three departments in the previous four matches and we need the same spirit from all the players in the semi-finals to beat the UAE,” said Dias, who has instructed the players to play a natural game without feeling any pressure.

Skipper Binod Das said the boys needed to maintain the form. “So far we have not given any chance to the critics and the team is determined to put up a good show,” said Das, adding he preferred to bat first against the UAE. “We will have to put up runs on the board and I think our bowling and fielding are good enough to defend the 200 plus score,” he added.

Das also said that all the players were ready to play in any position and that the team had some quality players who could turn the match from any point. “We have quality players and we can win the match if we just give continuity to the performance of the previous matches,” he said.

Team Manager Pawan Agrawal, who is also the former national team skipper, said the players need to take the game as just another match. “If the players treat the match as just another game instead of taking it as the semi-final, there will be no pressure at all,” he said.

“And the players will have to play as per the situation instead of sticking to a certain game plan,” said the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) executive committee member Agrawal, who was the member of the 1996 ACC Trophy team, vice captain in 1998 and led the team in 2000 ACC Trophy.

Squad: Binod Das (captain), Paras Khadka (vice captain), Mahesh Chhetry (wicketkeeper), Paresh Lohani, Kanishka Chaugain, Sharad Vesawkar, Gyanendra Malla, Shakti Gauchan, Basanta Regmi, Mehboob Alam, Sanjam Regmi.