Nepal tour of Netherlands, 1st T20I | Jun 30, 2015 | Asian Cricket on Move

Everything has happened all so quickly within a short period. We, as Nepali Cricket fans are overwhelmed from the output that our players are delivering at the International level of cricket. For a country which is always in headlines with the political instability all across the globe, such a stable progress in the game of cricket would not only highlight our Country’s name but also describes the hard work of the players and craziness of the supporter and well wisher working behind the scenes. For a country like us, it is a vital achievement what we have got until now but is also bringing huge challenges for everyone to make beautiful mornings for this beautiful nation of Himalayas.

With each striving movement we are coming inch closer to the huge success as associates and step forward to march as brave fighters of the game. We are sailing across the vast sea of challenges with little things marking huge change. We have raised our bar in the bowling and fielding department to a huge deal but top order batting is still our headache. Until Division 3 we comprehensively beat all the teams as our plan was executed with proper timing. But the way we just got worse in the latter half of Division 2 especially with the Kenyans we just realized that we are still far away from teams like Afghanistan and Ireland. It is an always adaptive quality that is inherited in the top teams to make most of the opportunity presented by oppositions. But we lost, out of nowhere and gave up the firm grip which we held throughout the tournament. The lost against Uganda and twice against Kenya proved our inability to react in adverse situations presented by opposition in front of us. The horrible form of some talented and well praised batsmen like Subash khakurel, talented and strong Sharad vaeshwakar out of touch and Sagar Pun failing to prove his critics is creating lot of pressure on captain cool Paras Khadka and vice captain Gyanendra Malla in the middle order. Although the performances of these two great batsmen of Nepali cricket is not affected, they could not control every aspect of the game. The top and the lower middle order must fire to give pace to the Nepali innings which would ease their way forward in the limited over games.

The performance of each and every player counts major for the team. It eases the role of the captain to take major and new decisions that could change the course of the game. It could even ease the pressure off the captain and vice captain to play their natural games. The potential that these two players have is unbelievable, while Paras is a strong combination of timing and perfection; Malla on other hand is wristy and unstoppable at times when in full flow. These two batsmen are assets that should be exposed at the right time to pile up huge scores to make life difficult for the oppositions. Not only in this matter but in the other sectors of the game also the mentors and the veteran players like Shakti gauchan and Basanta Regmi could design a master plan to break the ongoing slug and counter attack of oppositions. This was a weak point of our team in the decider against Kenya where the frontline pace attack although going for plenty of runs continued and went for more hammering after every over. Instead had the part timer like Gyanendra malla himself or Sharad Vaeshwakar had stepped up and bowled few over’s may be the assault would be halted. These little things are always a part and parcel of the winning team. When you play to win you have a positive mindset but when you play not to lose you will have a defensive mindset which is always fearful. Your mindset affects your field placements, your body language with lowering shoulders suggests opposition that you are starting to feel the negative vibe and they would try more to add salt on the wounds. Your captain can just lead you from front, score runs, take wickets, assist run outs but couldn’t face all the opponents 11 single handedly. The rest 10 should also fire and make the job of the captain relatively easier. Every individual’s contribution is the mainstream of a winning team. So today we face this beautiful challenge to score 30 odd runs, take a vital wicket, grasp some outstanding catches and save 20 odd runs in the field which would add more value to the team’s score. A lost is a part of the game but loosing is a mentality or inability to fight together.

All the big guns must fire not just on the battle ground but inspire the next generation to come in front and perform. The shoes that they need to fill are of huge feet. The contributions and hardwork of these players over years have made their value more than ever today in the International arena. If the bench players and the next generations don’t continue the hardwork we are sure to fall apart. All the school children and gully cricketers must be watched closely and picked to perform for their nation like an army does in the border being within the boundaries of Disciplines.

Today is the day we need to act, implement and execute all those plans available as per the situation demands for the preservation of cricket and cricketing environment all around the country. We are just Couple of hours away from a major tournament after devastation of The Huge Earthquake of April and May, no dreams are shattered yet a lot of physical and mental embarrassment and loss of lives are still fresh in the eyelids and cerebral part of the brain. Although the oppositions like Netherlands look fresh and strong enough in the plane paper, we should believe in all the positives what we have got from the recent English county clubs that played against us. The flaws, mistakes, and negatives must be a source of improvement and inspiration and our player must play for today thinking that every day is a new day with new achievements behind the door waiting for our grasp with a maximum effort. We as a nation are together to evaluate the effort our guys put into. As a writer of this Website, I wish my luck to the fighting spirit for our boys. There is enough diversity in this team and all we need is not 11 Paras Khadka in the team but 10 responsible players supporting one Paras Khadka who will lead us to victory not only today but for the coming tough schedule following this T20 series.