[Originally published at Asian Cricket Council website]
Nepal’s Gyanendra Malla and Afghanistan’s Hasti Gul have achieved much for their countries on the playing field, now they’re trying to do more off the field. Both have started academies in their home towns, with an eye to creating their successors in the national teams of the future.
“Of all the things I have done, this is what makes me feel the best,” says Hasti Gul.
Swing-bowling, hard-hitting Hasti Gul, 26, was one of the players on Afghanistan’s epic charge up the world rankings which took them to the brink of World Cup 2011 qualification and though out of the national team at present, he retains his immense popularity in a country in which cricket is increasingly being established as the most popular sport.
“160 players daily come to my Academy in Jalalabad,” says Hasti, “we have four turf wickets and two cement pitches and a coach from Peshawar Mr. Saad Muhammad. My dream is that 10 of these boys go on to play for the national team in five years and that many more will come and enjoy cricket in our country.”
Nepal’s Gyanendra Malla, 19, is softer-spoken than Hasti Gul and is a player still performing at the highest possible level for Nepal. A middle-order batsman of grace and distinction who can bowl spin and throw with either arm, he has a maturity that belies his years. He has been playing for the national team since 2006 and is a major talent.
Photo by Asian Cricket Council
There is no doubt that his 40 or so young charges, who come after school when they can but almost always on Saturdays weather permitting, respond well to Gyanendra’s gentle encouragement and teaching. His pupils are as young as five and he has two of the national woman’s squad also enrolled in his Academy.
“It’s more of a Training Centre than an ‘Academy’” says Gyanendra modestly of his work in a vacant residential plot in the suburbs of Kathmandu.
“Everybody has different needs, for the young it’s mostly a matter of getting them to enjoy the game, to realise how much they can achieve if they just try. For the older ones it’s just working with them on small things to make sure they keep doing the right things,” says Gyanendra.
“We don’t have huge expectations here, we are just starting but I know that without someone to encourage you in the right way you can’t really be a good cricketer. Cricket is popular in Nepal but it is also hard to play for a number of reasons but its something that can really help the young have access to cricket. So few schools have teams, there are so few tournaments and the children who want to play don’t get enough chances. Here it’s about just playing and giving parents the confidence to send their children here.”
Hasti Gul and Gyanendra Malla met on the playing field a few times themselves in ACC and ICC tournaments, in the future players they have helped develop may well do the same.
“I will not play cricket forever but I want to help make cricket forever big in Afghanistan. I am saying 10 players for the national team, I also hope to have 10 teams from the Academy in domestic competitions in Afghanistan. And then international,” says Hasti Gul.
He and Gyanendra have achieved, are achieving, much and developing cricket in a vital and necessary way. They have already inspired quite literally hundreds of thousands, such is their appeal in their native lands. They are also directly helping as many as they can along the way.
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well done gyanendra …i really appreciate ur effort….best of luck…
Good job guys .Keep it up.
Jai Naya Nepal
Good news guys!! Nepal has started practicing for div 4. And an0ther go0d news, in police, armed p0lice and army clubs they are about to accept cricket and fr0m next year we can see club tournaments in our h0me c0untry.. Its go0d for the players aswel bcoz they wil b able to survive by playing cricket.. Cheers guys!!
where did you get that news about police, armed police and army club accepting to have club same like football in nepal?? how true is that???
Gyanendra is the most successful cricketer till now from our country. He has revealed his batting skills in every matches that he can play in any condition with patient and deep concentration. Gyanendra wish u all the best for your better future in nepali cricket and im hopful that you will further enhance ur skills so that nepal could get ODI status. God bless u my dear…!
And thanks Atit bro for your good news of our team. If that is really true then its a big option to generate new players.
. . . . . . .A real nepali
Bikash.. I watchd it on weekly sp0rts pr0grame in kantipur t.V
Guys plz clear me 1 thing.. Finalists of WCL divisi0n 3 played in 2011 will play in world cup qualifiers or the finalists of 2013 divisi0n 3??
Atit H,
Firstly I’m glad to see something new on this website.
The finalists of div3 2011 will get promoted to div2 and if they get upto 4th position in div2 they’ll get promoted to wcq and if they get 5th or 6th position in div2 then they’ll get relegated back to div3 2013. And the the finalists of div3 2013 will directly be promoted to wcq 2013.
It’s hoped you got it.
In fact hasti gul is a good man, he’s doing hard for cricket here and helps us too much, actually i’m one of the players in his academy and i am trying my best to be in his 10 dream players for the national team.
You r rite Khusal but 1 thing u should know is 5th n 6th gets da ODI status and dey can directly play the world cup qualifier. Hope u could b in da dream team of hasti Gul… Plz, just rite wat u know coz da bad news hampers all the fans of cricket.
Anyways thanx 4 the interest in nepalese cricket, Good Luck……
thnx atit fo posting gud news abt nepali cricket. N yea, it really feels gud 2 hear abt the preparations of ur team for div-4. This tym manjeet shrestha is back after long tym for close camp, n sunam is picked fo the 1st tym in senior side, but the selection of dipendra is nt convincing for most of the nepalese fans, for he hasnt given any contribution 2 the team in last 13 or 14 matches(neither in div-5 nor in acc trophy). Ne way hope 2 see some new faces making place in playing set this tym. Gud luck guyz, ……
Regarding gyanus effort, he is tryin 2 deliver his skills 2 the kids in the towns who r probale future cricket stars of our country. Well done n keep it up!!
Wish u all the best!
0k azmi i got that.. Thats exactly what i thought.. Bt the thng thats c0nfusin me is that if nepal wud have bec0me 3rd in div 5 which was played about 2 m0nths b4 in nepal.. than also nepal wud have chance to play in w0rld cup qualifiers.. Bcoz in 2012 div 5 and div 4 is to be played and if nepal wud have got prom0ti0n fr0m div 5 played in 2012 and div 4 played in 2012 as wel than also nepal wud have got chance to play div 3 in 2013.. Bt i heard that if we wud have n0t reached finals of div5 played earlier this year than the d0or for 2015 w0rld cup wud have been cl0sed.. mr azmi my fren if nepal wil n0t get prom0ti0n fr0m div 4 which wil b played later this year than also nepal wil have chance to play WCQ by pr0m0ti0n fr0m div4 played in 2012.. What do u think and was that t.V report false? Im m0re c0nfused :s
0ur l0cal t.V chanels said that if we wud n0t have reached the finals of div 5 than the d0or f0r w0rld cup 2015 wud have been closed..**
0ur l0cal t.V chanels said that if we wud n0t have reached the finals of div 5 than the door f0r wc 2015 wud have been closed..**
Yeah Atit H, you are utterly right.
Each team in world cricket league whether it’s nepal or any other team gets two chances to qualify to the world cup qualifiers. The news you’ve heard from local channels is completely wrong because nepal would still have another chance unless they hadn’t made it to the finals of div5. And if nepal doesn’t make it to the finals of div4 then they can participate once again in the 2011 div4.
Thanx azami.. N0w n0 m0re c0nfusi0n gr8 c0mbinati0n bing0.. :p thanx 4 ur info.. And best of luck for T20 WC
Hey you all guys nice to see you again and thanks khusal bro for your info and wanna wish all the best to your national team in WC T20.
. . . . . . . A real nepali
Guys ‘Our national team coach Dias is leaving soon’ i got the news in one website.
Guys whts ur openion on this topic? Please post ur openion.
‘Our national team coach Dias is leaving soon’ i got the news in one website.
Guys whts ur openion on this topic? Please post ur openion.
Well thats a gud news mr pun. Dias has contributed a lot for our team but n0w its time for him to take a rest. And i hope next coach will focus on impr0ving the quality of our batsmen. Specially batting against the pace bowlers. Dias is a legendary batsmen but the thing that our team have n0t improved is batting.. So gud to hear that. What do u guys think about Gilchrist as our next coach :p
ya good matter we have need some special coach.we want Australian coach because they know how to play for fast pacer
Ya guys it would be great if our team got good coach who can contribute far more better than Dias but i doubt upon CAN’s vision that can bring such type of coach who can really help to improve in batting sector. As you guys told australian batsmen as our new coach but i dont think CAN could convience them. But in my view mr. Dias has contributed a lot to uplift our cricketer’s skill and he should keep continue till the div. 4.
Till then CAN should start its work in search of new coach i mean whtever they hav to go under process for searching new coach in that period.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . A real nepali
khoi nepali team k gardai chha?? practice kahile dekhi garne ho??? CAN sarai jhoor bhayo…nepal ko sthiti ramro nbhaye bangladesh, pakistan n india ko cricket acadamy sanga ta practice match garauna sakchha ni???