NATIONAL 5 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Spectacular Display

The spirited and magical display of bat and ball skills by Nepalese youngsters takes world by surprise

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

When Nepal defeated tournament's favorite Pakistan by 30 runs on January 22 registering the biggest upset, many had thought it was a mere fluke. But when they managed to win 6 out of eight games they played in the whole tournament, uprooting formidable teams like Bangladesh, Scotland and Namibia, among others, in their way, Nepalese youngsters clearly took the cricketing world by surprise. After losing by 137 runs to formidable Zimbabweans last Friday, Nepal ended up as the first runner-ups in the World Cup Plate championship of Under 19 cricket tournament in New Zealand.

They became the most promising up and coming teams. Though they lost a berth in super league by a whisker, their triumphant display in the plate championship was not lost. They managed to earn themselves a nickname of "giant-killers".

Cricketers welcomed upon their return : Winning combination

"With six 15 or 16-year olds in the team, cricket's future looks bright in the Himalayan nation. The first step in climbing the mountain towards being a full international team has been overcome here at Lincoln, no matter what happens in the final," Matthew Appleby, wrote in his article in CricInfo website. It is an irony that though Nepal does not have more than a single decent cricket pitch and though they have never played anything else than one-dayers, they could bring down cricketing power-houses of the region like Pakistan and Bangladesh.

"I am proud that we could play so good in the tournament. In fact, it was the result of hard work of all our players," said a modest Binod Das, Nepalese skipper, upon returning to the country. Visibly pleased, Binod Raj Pandey, general secretary of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) said, "(the display) shows that our players have gained tremendous edge and experience over the last couple of years." He admitted that the CAN had not expected the players to come this far in the tournament.

A major share of the country's goes to coach Roy Dias. A former Sri Lankan national player, Dias was instrumental in instilling confidence and sharpening the batting skills of the players. Besides, he also helped bowlers, especially spinners like Sanjam Regmi, to bowl international class. His experience of training the awesome Sri Lankan off-spinner Mutthiah Muralidharan came in handy. Another good find of the tournament has been the vice-captain and all-rounder Bardan Chalise who was crowned man of the match in both the play against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

"I was pleased with everyone, especially the captaincy of Das, who will be the future Nepal captain, there is no doubt about it," Dias told CricInfo. That apart, the flawless fielding was one of the highlights of the team. In today's competitive cricket, a good fielding side is always a bonus. Dias was his country's coach from 1998-99. He has been with Nepal just three months. However, he may no longer be with Nepalese cricket unless his contract is renewed soon. Writes the CricInfo: "The country has an aim of playing in the 2011 World Cup," with Dias adding, "If they continue no-one can say they can't do it."

Meanwhile, the magnificent streak shown by the young Nepalese cricketers has generated a fever back home for the game. Hundreds of young boys are seen swinging their bats and balls in small grounds around Kathmandu.

Many sports-lovers have started saying that the country gave more attention to develop cricket, the only game played by a group in which Nepal has reached to world cup level tournament. The CAN officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the recent display by Nepalese cricketers would lead Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and International Cricket Council (ICC) to invest here.

Right now there is only one cricket ground worth its name in the country. But that could soon change as the Kathmandu Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has expressed its determination to build an international standard cricket ground in Chobhar area. As things look bright for Nepalese cricket, it now depends on how the sports authorities go about from here.