But before the clash of Titans on the turf, the war of views and opinions has started with experts flowing out their opinions on Twitter timeline.

Before all this started, India’s ‘the wall’ and one of the most descent cricketers Rahul Dravid showed a richness of his knowledge when he spoke at the Bradman Oration 2011.

Many cricket analysts called it ‘Memorable at the Memorial’. Dravid not only showed his seriousness about cricket but he showed his keen knowledge about the ‘Memorial ‘. Dravid, the first foreign player to deliver the Bradman Oration, said: “Players need to sacrifice a bit of personal comfort for the good of the game.”

India’s former cricketer Sanjay Manjreker tweeted: “No current cricketer I have known is more aware of the world outside cricket than Dravid. His talk in Canberra as expected, brilliant!”

Well, that was Dravid at his best outside the pitch. Now let’s talk about the fever here.

Team India is at Canberra playing practice match. The speculations and analysis have started pouring out everywhere where cricket lives. It was a tough day for the Indian bowlers on the first day of the tour match and all seemed struggling.

It will be a tough time for Australian selectors too. Wes Robinson and Tom Cooper’s tons have of course made them think a bit. Ishant Sharma was wicket-less and he bowled only five overs and Umesh Yadav was good on picking up three wickets.

Is it good news for the Australian Camp? May be or maybe not. Key players of Australian cricket team are on a camp practicing how to play swing. Well it’s just because of the defeat against the Black Caps at Hobart where Australian batting order collapsed at once, except T20 specialist David Werner, who played a fighting innings but couldn’t save the Test.

Pressure is mounting in both the camps as Indian strong batting line-up will be facing Australian new bowling sensation James Pattinson. It will be a big test for Indian openers Virender Shehwag and Gautam Gambhir and all eyes will be on Shewag, the hand eye co-ordination smasher. Of course all eyes will be on the little master as well because the world is waiting for his 100th century.

But no doubt pressure will be ticking in both the camps as the Boxing Day is coming close.

(Sudin Pokharel is currently in Sydney, Australia and is a contributing writer for Cricket Nepal.)

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CAN President Binaya Raj Pandey. Photo courtesy: eKantipur

Those were the words of Binaya Raj Pandey recorded on September 30, 2006 — a day after he was appointed the president of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). Spoken at a time when the mismanagement and lack of cricket development initiatives had frustrated players and fans alike, Pandey´s words were quite soothing to the ear.

His appointment brought hopes of resurrection as the businessman bore a perfect profile of someone who could be entrusted with cricket development. His diplomacy, domestic and international ties and decades long association with cricket made him a person to look at to bring some order in the derailed cricket management.

After four years, however, much of that zeal and fanfare had been lost. If Kantipur Television rebroadcast the interview, it would surely be embarrassing for Pandey as he has not been able to deliver much of what he had promised despite being in a capable position.

I was present at the interview — and I know there are a few other things that he had promised and delivered. He has delivered on the promotion of women cricket, finding sponsors and also on giving some shape to the Mulpani cricket ground. While those are substantial achievements, they did not help the overall growth of Nepal´s cricketing level.

We still have good players and we still know something is lacking. Many of us, including Pandey, know that the some things that are lacking include exposures, matches and tournaments. Nothing much has happened in those areas even in the last four years.

CAN did introduce the two-day league. But the very first edition was postponed due to security reasons, and then they just forgot about it. Pandey had told media that the number of days of the two-day league would be gradually increased in subsequent years. It still remains a forgotten promise.

He repeatedly talked, formally and informally, about tie ups with India and the regional boards of the Test playing nations, but it never happened. During those years, he did manage to sign agreements with Pakistan and Bangladesh on tours but not with India — the best and most affordable option for Nepal. It´s not easy to have tie-up with India because they have never been enthusiastic about Nepal´s cricket.

For last two years, Pakistan´s cricket suffered most due to terrorist attack on Sri Lankan team. They lost tours and even World Cup matches, and were desperate to tell the world that the country is prepared for safety of the visiting teams. (The reason why they gave so much priority and coverage to the recent Pakistan tour of Nepali women team). Nepal could have used the opportunity for better bargains like a long-term tie-up and regular bilateral tours.

With all due respect, for the time and commitment Pandey has given to cricket, I must admit that I am disappointed with his and CAN´s achievement during his tenure as president. Bluntly, and ruthlessly, saying, CAN has functioned merely as a national agent of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and International Cricket Council (ICC), providing them teams, venues and spreadsheets whenever they ask for.

I humbly want to remind Pandey of his promises, and I know if he honestly works towards fulfilling them, he is more than capable to deliver them. And, I hope he will work to deliver on his promises as he surely knows the saying: positions are temporary but contributions are permanent!

(As published in Republica / Photo courtesy eKantipur.)

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Last October, the board approved that the 2015 Cricket World Cup (CWC) will consist of only 10 permanent nations and there will be no opportunities for other nations to participate in the tournament.

Why? The prime reason ICC gave earlier that more teams would extend the duration of the tournament is unfounded because the 2015 CWC will most probably consist of a total of 48 matches. This is because the 10 full members will compete in a round-robin league before the semifinals. The 2011 CWC, with 14 teams, has 49 matches.

Will one additional match make a CWC long and boring? Obviously not. The ICC is more concerned about money the CWC makes and, sadly, not interested about the matches or teams or in the development of the game.

It´s a big setback for the associate countries. There were six of them in 2007. The number was decreased to four for 2011. It´s likely that there will be none in 2015. There are only six other nations with One-Day International (ODI) status, apart from the permanent 10, and even they have no chance of qualifying for the ODI WC. World Cups are the ultimate target of any team or player, be they in any sports, and when the hopes to participate in them are dashed, it´s a big disappointment for all those who love the games.

There is already a bi-annual event for the 10 nations, the ICC Champions Trophy — and it too stays on to be a money-spinner for the cricket governing body. As compensation, the associate and affiliate nations, who seemingly do not have a chance get elevated to Test-nation status, can compete in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup featuring 16 teams.

Twenty20 format of cricket is the most unpredictable one and every cricket fan knows that it´s not the best format for the development of cricket in the nations where it is growing. This makes the situation more confusing. On one hand, ICC has repeatedly said it wants to develop cricket of all nations, but on the other, they are luring growing teams into a game that´s most unsuitable for their development.

Like majority of cricketers from the emerging nations, Nepal´s captain Paras Khadka, too, has been disappointed with the decision. But he thinks that since the ICC had changed the structure of cricket every time for the last few CWCs, the decision to play only 10 nations may be dropped at last. His might be an opinion on an optimistic note but it also reflects the ICC´s lack of commitment towards its own decisions, visions and plans.

With a hope that ICC will change its decision after 2015, there are a few things that ICC could do to really compensate for the injury made by the decision to the cricket.

The one that I would love to see is integration of at least two qualifiers to the ICC Champions Trophy.

The other, and more easier, is to give a good prize money to the top 12 associate nations (doesn´t need to be as extravagant as the CWC money) and ensure that the event is broadcasted live across the world.

Let´s hope ICC will think wisely on the development of cricket, rather than becoming purely a corporate enterprise with plans, visions and programs designed only to earn profits.

(As published in Republica under Sporty Spirit column)

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Now, wait a second!

What´s this all Region Nos? Well, for seasoned followers of Nepali domestic cricket, the names represent certain areas that Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has divided regional cricket teams for development works. They are often accompanied by a suffix — a name of a city within the region. Like the winners of the recently held Twenty20 cricket are Region No 5 (Nepalgunj).

CAN, recently, further divided the regions adding to the list two more regions centered around Janakpur and Pokhara. While CAN´s effort of dividing regions to decentralize the efforts to develop cricket is laudable; equally frustrating is the way the teams are referred to in the national tournaments. For someone who is new to the domestic cricket scene, it´s irritating to remember the numbers, but even the ardent fans find it difficult to associate the same feeling of pride to them as they would to a real name.

CAN can do two things to resolve this problem.

First, internally for administrative purpose the numbers could be used, but let the Regional Development Committees discuss and find a name for the team to be represented in national events. It´s maybe worthwhile to give some guidelines for nomenclature such as length of the name and that it should somehow connect with the region. This will primarily attract fans for regional teams or turn viewers from a particular region into a supporter of the cricket team from the same region.

For the regional teams, it also will be helpful in promoting and marketing the domestic tournaments. CAN has still to learn a few things about publicizing tournaments. I hope that they would at least hold a pre-event press conference a few days before the start of any event and provide schedule, information about squads and other details rather than sending out emails some 15 hours ahead of the event.

And second, and a bit complex, concerns the financial independence of the regions in question. It´s not easy, but I sincerely believe, it is achievable and when that´s achieved, it´s extremely beneficial for the cricket of the country.

How can this happen? The first step is allowing regions to find and have sponsors at their level. Maybe a regional team can have a name sponsor — similar to the football teams. If we can have Nabil Three Star Club or Hyundai Manang Marsyandi Club promoting football, we can certainly have ´Mega Kathmandu´ or ´Bajaj Biratnagar´ promoting cricket.

Of course, it would not go down well with the title sponsor of events, for example, Wai Wai of U-19, but at present, if all regions could get a sponsor worth 10 per cent of the title sponsor´s funding and CAN less than half of what they get now, it would be better — more money and more sponsors. The title sponsor can still be retained with the name of the event and national team´s jersey dedicated to them.

Getting sponsor is not easy for all regions and there is bound to be disparities in the sponsorship amount. But, everybody should be prepared for a ruthless step for the sake of development. If a region can not survive on its own, merge it with other region. If all regions fail, CAN can always return to today´s situation. But, on the other hand, if it succeeds, we will have financially strong regions competing for titles. We can look forward to regional tours or triangular series scheduled by regions themselves. A vibrant cricket calendar – and it´s all good for the future of cricket.

It does sound too optimistic, even fanciful, but this is something that should be tried. I might have overlooked many other problems that may arise due to such decisions by CAN. But there are solutions to every problem and people in CAN, better experienced in financial and sports matters, are capable of addressing any problem that may arise in the course of making regions financially independent.

CAN, it´s high time to work out a plan!

(Originally appeared in Republica national daily)

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Tharanga was probably surprised, not only by the ability of Nepal’s team to put her country on the tight rope, but rather by the way her husband referred to Nepal as “we.” “We’re Sri Lankans!” she remarked.

Oh, yes! Dias is a Sri Lankan – he had represented the tiny nation during its early days of international cricket as a class batsman. He has batted for Sri Lanka with such elegance that those who saw him playing still consider him one of the all-time best batsmen.

But his nine-year association with Nepali cricket made him consider the tiny Himalayan nation his second home. His commitment to the game, relationship with his players and people, and connection with places made “each moment of his nine years memorable” for him.

“It’ll take me a few weeks to realize that I’m in Sri Lanka, that I’ve come back and missing this life,” Dias told me a few days before his scheduled return flight. The 59-year-old inspirational coach concluded his career as Nepal’s coach and is returning to his homeland on Sunday, and it is his retirement from jobs abroad.

A family man

Every time I visited Dias in his hotel room, I noticed a photo-collage at his bedside table that consisted of a picture of Jesus Christ and photos of his family – wife, a son and a daughter. He would always talk about his family. So much so that I feel like I know each of them personally, though I have never met them.

A few years ago, I was tempted to ask him, “Don’t you feel lonely?” He was quiet, probably had never expected the question. The answer was “Yes, I do miss them a lot” but after looking at his eyes, I never dared ask the question again – well, until his return was confirmed.

“In a way, I’m glad that I’m going back to be with my family,” Dias said with a note that “it feels sad to leave.”

“You know, my daughter was nine when I left, now she’s 18,” he said. With his son settled abroad after completing his education, Dias feels it is high time for him to be with his daughter and his wife. “I don’t want to miss them anymore.”

Dias also feels lucky that his family supported and understood him. “My wife has been very supportive and she understood it was a job for me. She also kept all of us very close,” he confided.

Tied by team

When Dias arrived in Kathmandu in September 2001, only knowing that he would be flying to an unknown airport to be met by the cricket board president, he “never expected to stay for nine years.”

“After I came, I realized the passion that you all have for cricket, and then it was an upward climb,” he said. “Every year, the team was doing well, and I had to stay. Then I became a part of Nepali cricket.”

During his stay, he groomed many players from their early age. “Except for a couple of players in the national side now, I’m with all other players from their early age,” he said. “So, in a way, they are like my children.”

Although many consider Dias as the man behind the country’s cricket team’s success, Dias himself considers it a team work. “I’m a coach, a teacher who can only teach,” he said. “It’s the students who have to sit in the exams and do well. So it’s the team that did well.”

Cricket’s long way

“Tundikhel was all football when I came, now it’s more cricket there,” he said. “The passion for cricket here is extraordinary.”

Dias had his share of contributions to the popularity. Under him, cricket teams of Nepal – seniors, age-groups and women – won 11 tournaments, reached finals of four others and semifinals of seven others.

The most fancied victories however are not those statistics. The Youth World Cups (YWCs), though, is one special instance. In 2002, Nepal reached the finals of the YWC Plate Championship, defeating Bangladesh and Pakistan; and in 2006, Nepal won the plate championship, defeating South Africa and New Zealand en route.

However, a couple of losses in crunch matches by the senior teams remain painful aberrations of his successful career.

“The losses against Qatar in 2003 in the ACC Trophy quarterfinals, and Tanzania in the WCL Division 4 in Italy this year weren’t good for us,” he said.

Proud man

“I can be proud that I’m one of the persons from the 1970s in Sri Lanka whom, when people see me on the road, they still recognize and respect,” he told me when I asked about what he valued most in his life.

“I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to take benefits in a wrong way,” he said. “For me, human relationship is important.” He recalled his four years as a professional player in Canada, where he played his final three years without a contract paper.

“It’s faith,” he remembered. When the new chairman of the club sought his contract paper with three games remaining in the season, his teammates were enraged, and asked him to return. He did, and half of the club’s team did not play the rest of the season in silent protest.

“Even now, after three decades, whenever my teammates visit Sri Lanka, they remember to visit me,” he said. “It’s human relationship.”

He believes he succeeded mostly during his stay in Nepal. “It’s been my second home. I love this country and I respect the people here for all the support, love and respect they have given to me,” he said. “I could just say two words to them all – Thank you!”

(As published in Republica national daily)

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Roy Dias.

In 2001, when Roy Luke Dias arrived in Nepal as the national cricket coach, nobody knew what exactly the tiny Himalayan nation would achieve under him and for how long he would stay. He was the coach of Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup in England, and that fact alone made us proud to have him.

I always believed Dias chose to be Nepal´s coach due to an ego. He was fired immediately after the 1999 World Cup for Sri Lanka´s bad performance, and also because Dias, who is a strict disciplinarian, criticized star players for not playing well.

He was labeled an incapable coach, and the only way he could prove himself was by shocking them with his abilities.

In 1999, Nepal had reached the Super Eight of the Youth World Cup in Sri Lanka beating Kenya, and Dias saw the possibility. The rest is history; but my wish to see Nepal beat Sri Lanka remained unfulfilled. That didn´t happen (Dias surely wanted to take Nepal to the World Cup); but on Wednesday, Nepal nearly beat Sri Lanka in the Asian Games in China in the match that was his last as Nepal´s coach.

After the match, the entire Sri Lankan media in China turned to Dias; and just before he returns to his country to take up a job at the cricket board, he would still walk proud in the limelight. Not a perfect farewell by Nepali cricketers, but not a bad one either.

During his stint in Nepal, Dias not only brought the best out of young teams but also taught cricketers the importance of patience, hard work and discipline. He was not a beloved man to all cricketers for when players tried to go ´free´, he was too critical and didn´t like it. Once he told me: “I know if I let them play free, they will win some tough matches, but it´s more likely that they will also lose some easy ones.” And, I wholeheartedly agree.

Of late, however, there were criticisms against him. It wasn´t because he degraded as a coach but rather due to general frustrations with Nepali cricket. Despite high hopes pinned on Nepal, there was no World Cup qualification, no big matches with Test nations, and Nepal lost a lot of crunch matches, and lately, as other nations progressed, Nepal remained in the same spot for lack of proper program and planning.

I don´t think Dias will ever work the way he worked in Nepal. He was virtually given every powers that a coach requires. Media were all positive — there were no criticisms; and the cricket board respected almost all his decisions.

Dias as a coach avoided aggression, innovation and technological assistance — something of a fashion in international cricket those days. Going with that, many called him a ´traditional coach´. It´s true, but it´s also the best thing that budding cricketers required.

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) decided not to renew his contract, and he was asked if he wanted to go with the team to the Asian Games. For his humbleness and love for Nepal, he agreed despite knowing that there was not much chance of winning any medal. And, his decision paid dividends.

It´s time for the beloved man of Nepali cricket to move ahead. With Nepal´s success credited to him, Dias can always be proud, and probably those who thought of him as an incompetent coach a decade ago have eaten crow.

I feel sad saying good-bye to you because of your contributions to our cricket. We will get another coach (hopefully more successful than you) but it´s highly unlikely that we will get a Nepal-loving man like you.

Good bye, Roy!

(As published in Republica national daily)

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The reconstitution of CAN on the eve of Vijaya Dashami last year was welcomed by all quarters as the earlier committee had failed in many areas, most notably in international co-ordination, largely due to internal conflict and alleged corruption. National Sports Council (NSC) was under pressure to dissolve the earlier committee as the nation was going through democratic changes and everything related to Royal Regime was being thrown out.

NSC appointed a 19-member committee under Binaya Raj Pandey. The expectation was high as those who were critical to the earlier committee were included in the New CAN.

Although New CAN was supported by the international achievements, the New CAN still has to do a lot more to meet the expectations.

“We are moving forward with long-term plans that are not visible instantly,” CAN member and former national captain Pawan Agrawal says. Agrawal is one among three former captains in the committee – the other two being Uttam Karmacharya and LB Chhetri.

After the national team packed up the kits on November 26 on conclusion of the three-day match against Malaysia, they have not played yet. There has been no preparation yet for the ACC Twenty20 Cup scheduled next month. Also knocking on the doors is the World Cup Qualifying Division V.

The New CAN should not only prioritize the U-19, in which Nepal has already proved to be among the best in the world, and World Cup qualifying but also give equal importance to all the events. Moreover, the Twenty20 cricket can attract corporate houses.

Under the New CAN, Nepali national team won the ACC Fast Track Countries Championship three-day event defeating Singapore and Malaysia despite losing to UAE at Sharjah. The trophy is also the first major event the senior team has won, but CAN didn’t even remember to honor the team or award them.

The success of women cricket was a big leap. First ACC then ICC awarded Region No 5 Nepalgunj the Development Award for Best Initiative Women’s Cricket. Encouraged by the Regional and Global Award, CAN organized the first national event for the women participated by four regions.

Standard-wise, the women’s national held nothing more than a school-level cricket, but the initiation to establish it was an laud-worthy attempt that helped in making of the national team, who did the nation proud by reaching the final of the inaugural ACC Women’s Cup in Malaysia.

It was not only a surprising result but also a proof that if given opportunities and groomed properly, women’s cricket can do equally well.

The U-19 national team too continued achievements continuing domination in the ACC U-19 by winning it fourth time and qualifying to the Youth World Cup to be held in Malaysia next year.

Except in women’s cricket, all other teams got sponsors with the total sponsorship money amounting to Rs. 6.3 millions. Surya Nepal and Standard Chartered sponsored Rs. 4 million annually for national team and senior national event while Wai Wai continued Rs 800 thousands sponsorship to U-19 team. Pepsi got associated with U-15 for 1.2 million while John Players sponsored three-day matches with Rs. 300 thousands.

But the sponsorship didn’t bring much change for the players in domestic events. Almost all domestic events concluded as usual and the allowance for players didn’t increase from Rs 200 a day – something that hasn’t changed for a decade now.

National events were held on knock-out basis, a system that was criticized as nothing else in previous years. Though the New CAN got an excuse of Tarai Uprising, the movement in sourthern part of the country that kept cities closed for more than a month, the unchanged format was indigestible for many.

The beginning of the two-day nationals will certainly help to improve cricket in future but also required for the improvements are proper grounds and trained manpower in the regions.

Among all the challenges, the biggest for the New CAN is the holding of the election for the first time in its six-decade long history.

Evaluating the Year
Positive Points

• Success in international events
• Highest ever sponsorships in cricket
• Re-establishment of international image
• Nomination for the World Cup Qualifying League Division V
• Selection of ICC’s Business Improvement Program along with Canada and Kenya
• ACC Regional and ICC Global Development Award for the Best Initiatives of Women’s Cricket
• Beginning of women’s national event
• Beginning of two-day national event
• Commitment to build a national academy at Mulpani

Negative Points

• Continuation of knock-out system in national events
• Continuation of decade-old allowance system for players despite good sponsorship
• Lack of initiative to turn domestic events into professional events
• Lack of preparation for the strong national team
• Not much progress in the construction of national academy at Mulpani
• Lack of initiative to hold elections

(Binod Pandey is the contributing editor of NepalCricket.com and writes for Nepal Samacharpatra daily.)

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People are still not satisfied with the performance of Nepalese senior team so far in the tournament and once again every one is talking about batting as a weak link of Nepal. However 80 runs and 60 runs by Dipendra Chaudhary and Mehboob Alam in the last game against Kuwait have given some sort of relief here. And these performances also have probably eased some pressure from Mr. Dias and his team.

So far Nepal’s batting had not clicked to its full potential except in the last match against Kuwait. Non of our top order batsmen has scored consistently, given the fact that three teams, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar are pretty new to international cricket. Only Sakti had been successful with bat with one fifty, 38 and 36. Most worrying thing for Nepalese batting is the failure of Dipendra Chaudhary and Raju Khadka who are supposed to be the best batsmen in the team. Apart from these two, Paresh and Bardan also didn’t do well either.

So, what exactly lacking in the Nepalese batting then? Is it technique? Temperament? Ability to play long innings? Lack of exposure? And the question can go on and on and on. Some of us may agree to any of these. But in my view, Nepalese batsmen have all these with them and now we should stop making excuses that we have a weak batting. Because if we talk about technique, we have batsmen like Dipendra, Paresh and Sakti who are technically very sound. If we talk about temperament these all have scored 50s and 100s quite of few times both in domestic and international fixtures. If we talk about exposures almost every player in the team has played either U-19 or senior level international tournament. If we talk about long inning, if one can play it once he also can repeat it again and again. If we talk about stronger opponent then if Binod and Parash can play innings of 32 and 36 against the same opponent why can’t our top order batsmen? Therefore it is high time for every Nepalese batsman to start believing on them and play with courage and conviction.

Since we are preparing ourselves for 2007 World Cup, we can not make excuses like these. In my view if anything lacking in Nepalese batsmen, that is commitment towards game and strong determination. If Nepal want to go further in the tournament it has to show its strong determination through disciplined and planned batting in the semis.

In the batting side Dipendra would be key for Nepal and he has to lead from the front to steer the team to the final. He is a kind of batsman who can turn any match in Nepal’s favor from any condition. On his day, he has the ability to steer the team to the victory single-handedly. More over he is well experienced with perfect batting technique and aggression. He is innovative and takes calculative risk as and when required in the one-day game. He can really make any opponent dance on his own tune. Most importantly he has the ability of making his partner play as he want.

At last, I don’t see any reason why Nepal can not beat Malaysia in the semis as long as it keeps its basics right. All the best Nepalese Team!

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