TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
Follow UsAll India and Pakistan have to do is beat Nepal in the group stages of the Asia Cup to progress to the Super 4s. At the end of the day, that is what it’s all about and now the onus lies on Nepal to find a way to make things interesting.
Since they went on a run to finish third in the ICC CWC League 2, Nepal have found themselves playing plenty of matches in a short period. There was of course the World Cup Qualifiers, where they were pitted against full-members like Zimbabwe and West Indies. They did incredibly well to post 290 against Zimbabwe, but their bowling did not seem to be up to the mark. The same can be said about their performance against the West Indies, where they leaked 338.
They eked out victories over USA and UAE and did give the likes of Zimbabwe and Ireland a run for their money, but in the end, it is perhaps the lack of experience that went against them in crunch situations.
How did they fix that? They went into the ACC Emerging Asia Cup in order to gain a little more experience of playing competitive cricket against quality sides like India, Pakistan and UAE.
Moreover, they have also started a camp back home, where they trained and played some practice matches, before flying to Multan for a camp ahead of the Asia Cup.
Since Monty Desai has taken charge of the Nepal side, there seems to be a newfound enthusiasm in the side. That saw them win 13 of their first 14 ODIs under the new head coach, which included them not just making it through to the World Cup Qualifiers but also the Asia Cup.
While that in itself is a huge achievement for Nepal, whose last real success came in 2014 when they played the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh, but with this momentum behind them, they will want to build on this and take Nepal cricket to greater heights.
The team led by the talented Rohit Paudel has plenty of other talents at his disposal. While the retirement of Gyanendra Malla, who has been part of the set-up for over a decade, is somewhat of a blow, it provides an opportunity for new heroes to emerge.
Bhim Sharki, 21, is someone who is rated quite highly. He is capable of batting anywhere in the middle-order and is considered a glue who can do a solid job for his team in the middle-overs. He has an ODI average of 35, but a strike-rate of 67 is something he would look to improve on.
His knock of 67 against the UAE in a mammoth chase and an unbeaten 77 against USA in the Qualifiers have been some of his best moments recently. He is also a gun fielder and is fondly referred to as the Jonty Rhodes of Nepal.
“Bhim Sharki has been a story in itself. My first experience of Bhim was in the Under-19s team when I was involved the Under-19 Asian Cup," Desai said.
"What he brought to the table was that he was always willing to dive into the team roles. He looks like someone who's going to be around the Nepal team for a long time."
Gulsan Jha is another player to watch out for. The 17-year-old can crank up the pace with the ball and he not only gives his side with a left-hand option, but he can provide the side with the much-needed impetus with the bat.
“We're still considering him as someone who needs to polish his skills, keep training hard and just keep working hard," Desai had said ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers.
Desai would certainly be happy with the way Jha went in the tournament as he scored 139 at a strike-rate of 82.73, and with the ball, he finished as his side’s second-highest wicket-taker with eight scalps at an economy rate of 5.76.
Other key players include fast bowler Karan KC, who is Nepal’s most successful fast bowler with 73 ODI wickets, while there is no doubt that their superstar Sandeep Lamichhane with 111 scalps in the format will be the most crucial for them.
Opening batter Kushal Bhurtel, who scored 99 against Zimbabwe in the Qualifiers, too is a vital cog at the top. He has further added leg-spin to his repertoire, picking up six wickets against UAE A recently.
With Malla gone, Sompal Kami’s experience becomes vital, as does Dipendra Singh Airee’s contribution with both bat and ball. They have also taken punts on Kishore Mahato (pacer), Mousom Dakal (spinner) and Sundeep Jora (batter), who between them have an experience of seven ODIs.
In the Asia Cup, Nepal will be up against India and Pakistan – two full-strength sides who are looking to get their combination right for the World Cup this year. Ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers, we had questioned if this was how far the team would progress. While it was an overwhelming yes, they did hold their own in the tournament.
While this Nepal team has certainly gained experience having played plenty of matches in the last six months or so, it would not be too far-fetched to say that they could very well go winless in this competition. However, they do possess all the skills to put up a fight. There’s certainly no pressure or expectations from them and that could certainly give them the license to play freely.
Nepal are also hosting the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifiers at home later this year. It was their “home form” in League 2 that saw them make the Qualifiers, and similar performances in the T20 Qualifiers could seem them make their first appearance in the mega event since 2014.
Things are certainly looking up for the Rhinos and you would not bet against them soaring to greater heights in the years to come.
