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.
Cricket.com.np Facebook & Twitter
For latest updates and information about cricket in Nepal,
visit out Facebook page (and Like it) and Twitter (and Follow it).
Related news:
no probs my dear nepali brother…..i understand just how u feel about ur team…i exaclt know…..coz i hve been following Bangladesh cricket from the 1999 world cup….its been 11 years,,, and we Bangldeshis have faced a lot of such failures and heartbreaks….but always came bakk strongly….there was a time when teams like Kenya, UAE, etc used to have the better of us a decade ago with their foreign imports……but now they r no match, we got to the level where we are just by shheer lovve for our country’s cricket….and thats why i find a lot of Bangladeshi attachment with Nepali cricket…..soon….very soon…Nepal will beat the like sof Itly, USA with ease…u guys are destined for greatness in cricket…….and yup, its gonna start from this world division league 4 itself…….i will b here to witness the ascendency of Nepal in crcket….go Nepal!!
Btw, dineshpun, how is cricket in Nepal….i mean is it the number 1 sport overthere…….do all the kids play crcket……..or is football more dominant in Nepal.?..just asking, thnx……
hi Shakib,
Thank you for your support. Cricket is very popular sport in Nepal. May be football is more popular. But there are many places in nepal where cricket is more popular. But one thing is for sure, if Nepal becomes successful in reaching the world cup cricket will well and truly be number 1 sport.
Having said that people do expect a lot from Nepalese cricket team . We have absolutely no hope with our football team.
Personally, if you ask me I am not big fan of cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and their policy. Because we have not developed much in last ten years. I personally would like few players may be 4-5 from other test playing countries like Bangladesh, india, pakistan playing for Nepal. Every non test playing country does that. If you see teams from hong kong, UAE, malaysia , netherlands etc. they have players from overseas. I don’t know why we stick to the policy that our team should be purely made from players born in Nepal. Even England cricket team is stealing players from South Africa and Irealand. Why do we have to be saint?
Of course, I don’t want 11 players from overseas playing for nepal. But at least 4-5 good players from overseas can make Nepalese team very strong. Once we reach the world cup, and develop then we may discard this rule.
U r ready to compramize ur pride in hunt of glory? U can’t b a pure Nepali.. Just wait, glory will be on our feet with our own players..
dear knight,
ya your maybe ok, but we nepalese never been to dependent to others since its birth in this world, we are not compelled to follow underneath to any, and the nepalese bloods are flowing just like waters are flowing from Mt. everest that’s why this is the only reason nepal team never hire outsiders.
anyway thanks for your suggestion but we nepalis beleives in ourselfes so let’s motivate and encourage to us, we’ll definitely beat australia one day ! its not hypothetic if u guys go learnt about our past 10 years cricketing history thoroughly.
knight….thnx a lot……..all what u said above reminds me of the days when we stuggled in the early 90s…i believe nepal crcket is pasing through the same phase of their cricket as we were during that period……..well……we had the same problem…..altoguh i dont muh bt nepali players……i can asure you guys will succeed…….we used to feel the same way.. ….i know tha nepal u-19 team is awesum.the have even beaten powerhouses like South Afria, Pakistan….so there is no reason why u guys will be prosper……CAN hasnt been helpful.but even our BCB was vey much like CAN in the early days…….but what i am trying to say ur players themselvwes will one day bring glory by qualifying for world cup..its al about cricket culture……as cricket becomes moe populr, and with passage of time, u guys will produce players that will be better than those imports…….regardng getting players from other test teams to play forNepal, i dont support that idea..plz dont et me wrong..but dont u think it will be such a moment of prde if 11 Neplaese cricketers help Nepal is winning a tournament rather than some foreign exports doing it for them..wouldnt it take a lot of gloss and sweetness away from the victory
…..Nepal cricket is exciting for me to follow personally for the very reason that even after such turmoil, they have manged to push the other teams above their rankings with their “raw talents”….or esle, what is then the difference betwen say for Irelland, or Nepal…coz Ireland has got several players no originally Irish..and hence sometime in future…I beliee Nepal has got a better shot for test status then Ireand…..i understand u knight, but trust me…..when vicotry comes for Nepal, u will be glad that “others” didnt do a favour fo ur country, but rather the brave Nepali boys theselves accomplished their objectives…..hope u got my viewpoint 
btw,, when is the tournament starting and what is the schedule?
Thank u Shakib, we dont know that nepali cricket has a Bangladeshi supporter. Anyway i always pray Bangladesh win when it plays aginst Australia, England etc other than India As most of us r fan of Indian cricket, specially of Sachin Tendulkar. I am also the fan of Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafee Mortaza as they show the aggressiveness which i like most. Pls keep on supporting our TEAM NEPAL.
Who said we support India? U can say u support India bt dont include that we tag.. We love b’desh, pakistan, srilanka bt fav is RSA.. So u better think before writing we..
I’m agree with subodh….
Good luck my nepali brothers for the upcoming WCL div 4 in Italy.
I’ll be more than happy if Nepal qualifies to the final.
I reckon there’s no favourite except Nepal in the tournament.
Thanks Shakib bro, i absolutely agree with your openion for our team Nepal. Knight bro think about the suggestion of shakib bro……..wht do u think of that?
one thing that its nice to c u KHUSAL in this site and ur support to our team.
Warm Welcom ! KHUSHAL AZAMI ! once again in this blog.
THNX TO ALL my nepali brothers….remember guys…….u guys are destined for greatness…have patienece…..and NEVER EVER abandon faith in ur country’s potential….dont let the curent situation deceive you……….one day….one day….Nepal will surely qualify for world cup…2015….here we come….!!!
Dear Jhapali Nepali,
Thanks a lot for ur support too for our players…..i dont know about India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka…..but i can gurantee u guys that we Bangladeshis feel te joy and pain for Nepal..coz all of us had been in this situation..coming close so many times to a world cup birth for1992 and 1996, but failed by a whisker on those qualifiers….and the passion u guys is just a reminder of what we were……i mean its so simillllar……like the support, the popularity of the sport, even the playing style of ours back then…………………dont worry…continue with perseverance, and some glorious moments awaits for Nepal!!!
Nice to see kushal back here, n shakib thankx a lot… Hope our both countries will play test together some day, n I wana exchange our flag with u together watching the match..
Dineshpun, Subodh and Jhapali thanks for your welcoming. And one thing i wanna say that this site is seldom updated, which is very disappointing. I have been visiting this site frequently but i don’t find anything interesting.
@Khusal:
Dear bro you most welcome for your thanks and my concern exactly similar to you bro but what to do its not in my hand………and i would like to always request to the operator of this site tht to think about it. But i am quite happy that by this site at least we hav got the chance to share our openion. Kushar bro I think you guys are making it really interesting……………isn’t it bro?
@shakib, khushal- we are so happy to see u guys supporting our cricket. I too am supporter of Bangladesh and Afganisthan in int’l cricket. And, truely pointed by shakib, i also do feel that nepal’s style of playing is very much similar to that of B’desh.
welcome back both of u guys : Khusal & Shakib. I really like yr(Shakib ) lovely comment. keep it up
well shakib many thanks and heartly appreciate your opinion towards nepali cricket !
ya we do watch most of bangladesh intl cricket match with much zeal and enthusiasm, keen to watch players doing well or not, and having watch some of world class cricketers like tamim iqbal, shakib ul hasan, mortaza and older sppiner mohammad rafique feels us very proud like we nepalese are winning that’s the spirit and brotherhood of our friendly neighbourhood. I am 100% sure one day maybe after few years it will be powerhouse in world cricket if the players continue playing good cricket, all tha best and our many wishes to Bangladesh Team !
This site is owned by a person, not by an organization, he updates when he gets some information and if he is free..
@ subodh and pratab,
What kind of patriotism are you talking about? I think it is time to be pragmatic. There is nothing wrong in paoching 3-4 players from overseas. Do you think England fan don’t care their Ashes win if South african born players help them? Do you think french dont’t support french football team as they keep on stealing players from Africa. There are even some pakistani born players in Afganistan tem. Come on this is the rule of the world. This happens in every sports all over the world.
All I want to see is strong Nepali team. nobody would even care where our players are born. I am not saying we need 11 players from overseas because that will be bad to our players. But we can at least have 3-4 players. We can at least have 2-3 batsman who can score quickly. How long have we stuggled to get 200-250 runs in one day match? should we always depend on our bowlers. Its been a decade long problem.
We have been stuck in middle of nowhere for last 10 years and had we not been lucky with the crowd trouble we would have been still stuck in division 5. Once nepal used to beat top test playing team in U-19 level regularly. Now we don’t even qualify for the U-19 world cup. How we have fallen?
When Bangladesh became test country they already had a proper league structure. Problem is we don’t have a proper league in Nepal. Our talent are a raw talent, they haven’t come from certain cricketing academy. The way we are getting players now are the same way that we used to get players 10 years ago. so how can we think of improvement?
So, we must do following things -
1. A popular sports like Cricket and football in Nepal should be self sustaining. Cricket should not look for government to fund every time. I believe government funding should be for minority sports like table tennis, swimming etc. Of course it does need initial investment. But thats all. Cricket should make it self sustaining by cashing in its poularity. For that it can start a franchasie based 20-20 cricket. For example Biratnagar, pokhara, kathmandu, bhairawa etc can play a 20-20 league. Make a full advertisement 2-3 months earlier in all the media. Make the players household names. Use franchaises. Sell shirts, clothings, in the name of teams. Once the game starts show the event live on television.
It is the best way to generate money. A francise based 20-20 league must start in Nepal . A it is the job of CAN to make the even hype initially. A proper marketing of 20-20 cricket is must. Make it city based rivalry. Banners , posters every where.
2. Use money generated by the event in the league. Because people don’t ususally watch the league.
3. Any government funding should be used in grass roots like building an academy, hiring coaches in schools . Those funds should not be used in the league or 20-20 because it must be made self sustaining.
And until we have a proper league set up, we can bring few overseas players which will help us to climb further World cricket division.
@ Knight, I agree with your idea of cricket being self sustaining. Especially, 20-20 franchise league. In addition to making a metro based franchise clash, the game can be marketted more by at least hiring 2 to 3 players from associate level like Afghanistan, UAE, Ireland Scotland and so on playing for each franchise as in IPL. I m sure , the foreign players will luv to participate. This will add zeal and interest in the game.
What cricket popularity suggests here in Nepal, is with proper advertisement, publicity, marketting, arrangement and of course arousing caraziness of the teams in the people will well pay off huge in Nepal.
And income generated can be used in norturing proper leagues and players and all.
@ Knight, but didnt like the idea of bringing overseas players in our National team. Our problem is not that we dont have players with calibre, our problem is we dont have proper domestic structure. If we can set up proper domestic league, gurantee players facilities and can develop cricket as a career in Nepal, then no doubt Nepal soon can be a cricket powerhouse.
Well, i have said the foreign players will give us necessary impetus and boost our missing links. We might try only with our home grown players, but it will take a very long time. We can always cancel this policy once we have a proper structure, league and sufficient players to compete at the highest level.
There is a huge gap in the amount of money that teams which plays for WCL 1 like netehrlands, ireland, afganistan, scotland and kenya and the ones that play in WCL 4. The amount can be better utilized in the cricket development.