Nepali cricket team, which often faced fitness problems during previous tournaments, is in fine fettle with the Pepsi World Cricket League Division 4 just round the corner.
Earlier, players had to undertake month-long closed-camp training and they were unable to remain fit, but the long spell of training this time around has kept them at top form.
However, monsoon has been disrupting their regular practice for the Division 4 tournament scheduled for August 14 in Italy.
“We are well prepared in terms of fitness, but the rain has been disrupting our practice sessions. However, we still have three weeks and we expect better,” said Roy Luke Dias, the Sri Lankan Coach for Nepal.
Nepali players are busy in the game since last November as they are playing tournaments regularly.
Nepal played the ACC T20 Cup in UAE in November and won the Pepsi World Cricket League Division 5 on home ground in February.
Likewise, they participated in the domestic T20 and One-Day tournaments along with practice matches, which probably has helped a lot in maintaining their fitness.
According to Dias, Nepali players´ victory in the Division 5 tournament at home has boosted their morale. “After the victory, players´ attitude has changed. They now understand their role in the team better,” said Dias.
“Take for instance Mehboob Alam. He knows he has to play a big role for the team. Players are working hard and I can feel this is the best team,” said Dias. Dias said Nepali team is flying to Italy to claim the title while a final berth will be their minimal target.
The winners and the runners-up of the tournament will be promoted to Division 3, which will be held in Hong Kong in January 2011.
The ultimate goal for the six sides is to reach the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in 2013 and compete for a place in the 2015 World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand. The bottom two sides will be relegated to Division 5 ready for the next cycle, which will begin after the 2015 World Cup.
The Division 4 tournament scheduled to be held in the Italian province of Bologna will see six teams from five continents to make the tournament a special one. Asian representatives Nepal will take on hosts Italy (Europe), the US and the Cayman Islands (North America), Argentina (South America) and Tanzania (Africa).
All opponents, except for the US and Italy, are new to Nepal. Nepal defeated the US in the final of Division 5 held in Nepal on February 20-29 having lost to the same side in the league round of the tournament. Nepal and the US have qualified for Division 4 as the Division 5 winners and runners-up.
Nepal and the US have had four previous meetings, where Nepal have won 2, lost one while a match was washed out. On the other side, Nepal had pulled off an 88-run victory against Italy in their one and only encounter in 2005.
Though Nepal are aiming for the title, astro-turf (artificial) pitch in Bologna could be their Achilles´ heel. Dias, thus, cited astro-turf as a reason for including six seamers in the team excluding two batsmen.
“Toss does not play a role in astro-turf. It produces uneven bounce and ball sometimes bounces chest-high,” said Dias. “Batsmen should be aware of the bounce and as grounds in Italy are small, bowler should be conscious,” added Dias.
However, captain Paras Khadka opined that they should not bother much about the astro-turf as they are heading to play Division 4 in Italy.
“The US and Singapore had complained about our wickets during Division 5. We will also complain about the wicket but that is not our aim for the tournament,” said Khadka.
“We are going to Italy to secure a final berth and then to fight for the title. We should not only hope to win but should be determined for it,” added Khadka.
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Uzzwal…
Its same coming from you someone like you mate (If you are Ujjwal Acharya, the admin) !! at the end of your coment you added “jaya naya nepal” … is your naya nepal like this…. where people with different thoughts be discarded… Dont i and knight have our right to say what we feel… where is our freedom of though and expression in your naya nepal… if this is your naya nepal…. good luck to all naya nepali citizen…
Subodh…
same goes to you mate… people with different thought also are the same nepalese citizen… and just coz people like you do not want to hear different thoughts… CAN are full of shit people… backwarded.. and arrogant….
I love my country as much as you all twats here and love cricket even more !!!
I will stop supporting Nepal the day they feel the need/urge to include foreign players just to climb up the ranks…like few suggested, I don’t mind foreigners with some kind of Nepalese heritage/parentage.
We have done it without them before. We have beaten the South Africans, the New Zealanders, the Bangladeshis and the Pakistanis in the U-19 level. Fair enough its not translated to senior success. However, I do not think it is due to lack of talent or enthusiasm..that we have plenty. We and our boys are as talented as any other cricketers in the world.
However, we can not perform at top level by practicing right before tournaments. What we need is more exposure in top level and competitive cricket..not foreign player playing for Nepal. But I will agree that regular domestic leagues and maybe inclusion of foreign players in the league will strengthen our cricket. If we get big names brilliant…if not, do with local Ranji Trophy players…or players in Bangladeshi, Srilankan and Pakistani leagues. I am sure they will make our bowlers and batter think hard..plus they can learn from each other.
However it is utter disgust to even think of inclusion of foreign players in the team. It is a sign of weaklings. It is a sign of disrespect to the boys that play for the country..and every other person that want to represent the country.
Fair play there are countries even in top flight that are resorting to this..and more so in non test countries. But someone eats shit does not mean we have to all follow and eat shit ourselves!
Cricket Lover
I never said that u and knight should not comment. U NEED TO READ THE COMMENT PROPERLY AND UNDERSTAND IT. I said ur thoughts are in minority and except u and knight there is nobody in this site who agree to include foreigners in the team.And thts for us is patriosm ,may be not for u guys.WE love to carry our our flags and support the team.We are proud of the fact that we are a genuine team.We believe in our players unlike u . I know the CAN is crap but with the pressure building from fans and players they have to come with solid plans for cricket.We have patience and enjoying the progress NEPAL is making. WE LIKE TO SEE PARAS ,SARAD SCORING CENTURIES NOT SOMEONE WHO IS KNOWN AS DE SILVA or SOMETHING LIKE THAT FROM OTHER COUNTRIES PLAYING FOR NEPAL.
JAY NAYA NEPAL
First thing, if somebody plays in our domestic league for a year or two and then qualifies to play for us , then what’s wrong in that.
Tai thau ma janmera matra nagarik ra loyalty hunna. Jun thau ma karma garyo tyaha bata ni nagarik huncha. For example, If nepalese Engineers go and work in US , contribute to their economy, their goverment happily make them their citizen.
Thats why i said, if any overseas cricketer plays for a season or two here in Nepal, his contribution should be considered. There should be more streamlined way to selection.
And Noire, you accept foreign players to be included in domestic league. But then it is wrong in a long run to just to make them play in domestic league where there is no incentive. Even in England, if some southafrican want’s to play for England he has to be in England for three years and play their. Their contribution is then awarded and selected for national team. So why should we be disgusted, because they have earned loyalty and rights by working and playing in Nepal.
Loyalty and contributions are awarded all over the world. Please stop this narrow thinking and start awarding player according to their contribution. I happened to see european athletics recently there were players from cuba, ehtiopia etc playing for european countries proudly lifting their flag. They made their right to play for that country. Even US government grants a way to foreinger to their country if they are outstanding players.
And regarding win against bangladesh, new zealand and south africa by nepal. That is history. That was in U-19 world cup. Now we have moved down. Forget about winning against those country because we dont’ even qualify for U-19 world cup. How the mightly have fallen? When we first beat pakistan then , we were talking about playing the world cup in 2007. Now it is 2010, and we are still lingering in division 4. Teams who came later like Afgainstan has made a great stride. Despite all the so called enthusiam , where are we? I know getting foregign players won’t solve all the problems but at least it can make our team stronger by the time we sort our domestic league which would take at least 10 years.