Boys, you make us proud!

If the last four performances of the Nepali cricket team in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup 2011 is anything to go by, it looks very difficult, if not impossible, for other participating teams to stop our young boys from laying their hands on the prestigious trophy. Though the match with Thailand on Saturday, that they won by a huge margin of 175 runs, was only of academic interest as our team had already secured a semifinal berth riding on the back of dominating victories earlier against UAE, Oman and Afghanistan, it showed that the boys have no intention of slowing down until the cup becomes theirs.



The Nepali team has literally been on a roll. They have dominated all the four matches that they have played so far. What really has been the icing on the cake in the team’s journey so far is the fact that among the four victories, one has been against Afghanistan that is touted as the next prospective Test-playing nation.



While our U-19 teams have always done well, often even winning against Test-playing nations and thus earning the reputation of being giant-killers, cricket at the highest level has really not done as well as it should have, which is both disheartening and puzzling. Unfortunately, until a few years earlier, it was Nepal and not Afghanistan that was seen as the next big team from Asia. The answer to the question as to why we are not able to replicate our performance of the age-group levels at the national level perhaps can be found in an observation made by former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan on why Australians consistently do well at the international level compared to Pakistan despite the availability of immense raw talent in his country.



According to the legendary cricketer, the difference is created by the domestic circuit. Sheffield Shield in Australia is tough and competitive, the same cannot be said about the Pakistani domestic, he observed. The rigors of the domestic circuit prepare Australians to survive and perform in the demanding world of international cricket. That is something that we should give a serious thought to. The Regional Cricket Development Committees must be strengthened if we want to shine at the highest level in the long run.



Meanwhile, by virtue of reaching the semi-final, our team has already qualified for the U-19 Asian Cup where four Test-playing Asian teams – India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan – will also be playing. We hope that our team will come out with flying colors there too. Cricket is a funny game and on a bad day anything can happen but we are hoping that the young lads will continue their good run in Bangkok, win the semi-final and eventually the final too. Keep going boys, the nation is behind you!

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