Nepal’s love affair with #2 by Bigyan Niraula
If you ask about 2015 ICC WCL Division 2 to a True Nepali fan he will just say “#2”.
#2 here is not a number but it’s something which has determined Nepal’s Fate in many of their crucial games. The 2 runs defeat to the Uganda washed away Nepal’s dream to play Intercontinental cup while a 2 wicket victory over the Dutch helped Nepal to get a spot in ICC WCL Championship following the #2 spots vacated by Afghanistan and Ireland, when they joined ODI Points Table along with other Test members.
And Now after 3 years, Nepal again is in division 2. But now it is more tougher and carries much more importance for them. While previous season’s glory was due to bowling, Nepal desperately need to have their batting issues resolved as well. Nepal’s most reliable batsmen Gyanendra Malla has performed well previously for the country. The main concern of second opener seems to be solved for now after wicket-keeper batsman Dilip Nath has shown potential. But the main focus of Nepali fans is on Arif Sheikh, a prominent name in domestic leagues but an under-performer in International tournaments and everyone is hopeful that he will carry his EPL form in Namibia.
The middle order will fully rely once again on Paras Khadka and Sharad Vesawkar’s experience. Nepal will go in with Rohit Paudel as one of their main finishers in the batting line-up.
Talking about bowling, Basanta Regmi is in good form as before and will be the key bowler for Nepal on Namibian tracks and despite bagging a lucrative IPL contract, Sandeep Lamichhane too needs to deliver as he hasn’t done so much to remember in EPL as well as in recent Senior team matches.
And then comes the Gulmi express “Sompal kami kya dami” as the main Fast bowler. Nepali fans have big expectations from him along with Karan KC, who will try to do better against Canada, against whom he got a 5-wicket haul in previous encounter.
Not to forget is the rising Man Airee who is seen as Future Paras of Nepal by the fans. Nepali still have fresh memory of his innings in the second match against Kenya in Kirtipur in ICC WCL Championship. Now we need to see more such innings from him. With Rohit/Anil being in race for spot 7, it is nice to see such competition for the Nepal team who had gone through disappointing results mostly due to lack of proper application by the batting line-up to notch up consistent team scores above 225-250.
Now with less than a week to go, the less trained Nepal compared to their opponents will be even more optimistic. Thanks to EPL and Last round of WCL championship for keeping players busy. Now with the blessing of 3 crore Nepali fans, the Rhinos team will have more to do if they want to stay on top among the top Emerging (Associate) countries.
The glory of 2015 needs to be recreated with avoiding the risk of “#2” and making it among the top 2 spots for World Cup qualifiers. The fate even now is in the number “#2”. With high hopes and expectations, can The Gorkhali remain on the roadway to success?
All answers will be revealed by Feb 15th, which will determine the future of Nepali cricket.
Jay Nepal
Jay Cricket
“SciN”
