Circa 2002: ICC Under-19 World Cup Plate Final \u2013 Nepal Vs Zimbabwe \u2013 Zimbabwe won by 137 runs. In a chase to score 248 runs, Nepal team managed a paltry 110. Failure at the end of the tournament\u2026 Yet, mission accomplished\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It might sound buffoonery to term defeat as completion of a mission. Yet, we knew that Nepali team did not go to the tournament aiming for silverware. It is difficult to imagine how much ICC Under-19 World Cup 2002 meant for Nepal Cricket, unless you\u2019re a cricket fanatic, who followed Nepali cricket for past one and half decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know the total of 110 in that match was not a \u2018paltry\u2019 one, if you know what Nepal achieved during that particular tournament. On the route to the Plate Final, Nepali Colts managed to beat Pakistan (by 30 runs), Canada (by 9 wickets), Namibia (by 10 runs), Scotland (by 48 runs), and Bangladesh (by 23 runs). You know that these teams have history longer than Nepal, in terms of cricket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most in New Zealand \u2013 where the championship was played \u2013 had heard of Nepal by virtue of Mount Everest and Edmund Hillary\u2019s conquest of the tallest peak, and they were startled with the Himalayan nation\u2019s performance. It had led them to ask, \u201cDo you have cricket grounds in such a mountainous country?\u201d Nepali boys managed in drawing attention of the cricketing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many suggested that the turning point for Nepal was appointment of former Sri Lanka vice-captain Roy Dias as coach in September 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Circa 2006: ICC Under-19 World Cup Plate Final \u2013 Nepal Vs New Zealand \u2013 Nepal won by 1 wicket. In a chase of 205, Nepal had lost 6 wickets for 75 runs, yet achieved the target and finished with silverware. Yet again, mission accomplished\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, after initial level of success, expectations had increased from the team. The coach was, yet again, the same Roy Dias.
Circa 2013: Nepal (national team) is playing in ICC World Cricket League Division 3. Those who watch associate cricket say, Nepal is one of the favorites to qualify for the Division 2 (after finishing as one of the top two teams in Division 3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How times change\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not much has changed in Nepal\u2019s cricket structure in these 11 years, yet we have come to a level that even a third place finish would be termed as failure. Now this could be a reason of stress for many. But it also tells you that transition period of Nepali cricket may be complete. The promise shown by the Nepali Colts of 2002 may be nearing fruition now. A decade and a year should be enough for a transition phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How many players have been replaced from a team over a period is an indicator how a team has grown. If a U-19 player of 2002 has been replaced by 2013, it signals that the competition level among players is healthy. And by that standard, Nepali team seems to have progressed well. Only two of the players who played in 2002, Shakti Gauchan and Sanjam Regmi, are a part of the team now. And one should note that both of them are spinners, who have relatively longer shelf life than medium pacers or batsmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The captaincy has shifted \u2013 as Binod Das grew up from U-19 captain to national captain \u2013 to a younger player, Paras Khadka. It should be noted here that Paras Khadka was a member of the team which won Plate championship in U-19 World Cup 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coaching of Team Nepal has also transferred to a younger man \u2013 from Roy Dias to Pubudu Dassanayake \u2013 who played Test for the same nation, Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The arrival of younger men at helm has changed the way Nepal plays. Aggression has replaced caution. Innovative and extravagant shots have replaced the normal straight bat trudges. The mental make-up of the team is more compact. As the world cricket has shifted from traditional technique to pragmatic approach, so has Nepali cricket. It is about performance now, and it is visible in the way they enter the field. Somewhere you feel that the cricketers are learning to walk the talk. For now, the entry into the World Cup \u2013 be it 50-over or T20 \u2013 looks a probability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then, if you have followed Nepali cricket from early part of this millennium, you would remember that it started from a dream. The dream that the golden boys made us see in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PS: This write-up appeared in yours truly\u2019s weekly column in The Kathmandu Post \u2013 OFFSIDE \u2013 on 27th April, 2013. Incidentally, this is yours truly\u2019s 100th piece that appeared under the column.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Circa 2002: ICC Under-19 World Cup Plate Final \u2013 Nepal Vs Zimbabwe \u2013 Zimbabwe won by 137 runs. In a chase to score 248 runs, Nepal team managed a paltry 110. Failure at the end of the tournament\u2026 Yet, mission accomplished\u2026 It might sound buffoonery to term defeat as completion of a mission. Yet, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":532,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions\/532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somesh.com.np\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}