Nepal defeated the USA in the final of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 at home and captain Paras Khadka thinks they are no more under pressure. The Division 5 is the first major one-day tournament won by Nepal. The first time Nepal ever participated in the tournament was in 1996, which is organized every two years by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). [break]
“We are confident after winning the Division 5 and we have to maintain the confidence on foreign grounds. We have played good cricket on foreign grounds earlier but lost some major matches like semifinals. We have to continue the winning streak now onward,” said Khadka.
Nepal will face defending champions Hong Kong, Singapore, hosts Kuwait and Oman in group ´B´ of the tournament that will kick off on Wednesday. The UAE, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Bahrain and Bhutan are in group ´A´ of the tournament. The UAE are the four-time winners of the tournament. However, all other nations seem to have lost their steam after the rise of Afghanistan in world cricket.
“The UAE and Afghanistan are good and they are playing in the upper level but cricket is the matter of 11 players on the ground. We have to beat good sides to move forward and win tournaments. This is the point of time we have to move forward,” said Khadka.
Coach Roy Luke Dias also shared the same viewpoint and said that the team that plays better cricket on the very day could win the match. Dias claimed his side has that potential.
Nepal, who had reached the semifinals in the last two editions of the tournament, had lost to Afghanistan in the third place playoff. “Our cricketers are confident this time and I think we can win the ACC Trophy,” said Dias.
Batting used to be the major weakness of the Nepali side in the past but Dias hopes that batting could be the strength this time. “Bowling is our major strength even today but I expect improvement in batting. If we look at our batting order, batsmen like Mehboob Alam and Shakti Gauchan are batting at number seven and eight. All the batsmen should deliver their best,” said a hopeful Dias.
Kuwait used to be an unlucky venue for Nepal in the past. Nepal could not cross the group stage in the First ACC T20 in 2007 in Kuwait. Likewise, Nepal failed in the semifinal of the ACC U-19 Elite Cup last year and it was the first time in the last 10 years that Nepal could not reach the ICC U-19 World Cup.
However, vice-captain Gyanendra Malla, who played both the tournaments in Kuwait opined otherwise. “The TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur has been turned into a flat pitch and it is almost similar to Kuwaiti pitches. We are trained to play in the flat pitch,” said Malla.
Nepal had thrice made it to the semifinals and once to the final after participating in all seven editions of the tournament. Nepal had lost to the UAE in Singapore in 2002.
Like Ranatunga
The Sri Lankan coach of Nepali team Roy Luke Dias claimed that Paras Khadka possesses all the qualities of a good captain. Dias compared Khadka with the World Cup winning captain of Sri Lanka Arjuna Ranatunga.
“Ranatunga used to do what he felt good for the game and he used take the responsibilities if something happened. I can see those qualities in Paras,” said Dias.
The former Test cricketer from Sri Lanka said, “Ranatunga was different among the captains, who I played with or trained as a coach. He used to lead the team from the front and Paras does the same,” said Dias.
Khadka has taken Dias´ remarks as a compliment and vowed to prove himself in the tournament. “People have different opinions. It would be better if you analyze my captaincy two or five years later. I´m in the initial stage of my captaincy; I have a lot more to learn,” said Khadka.
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