Cricket in Nepal

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Cricket in Nepal

Postby from_the_stands » Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:28 pm

At the roof of the world lies one of the poorest countries in Asia, yet one which undoubtedly boasts some of the richest views in the world. For many years, visiting the Himalaya's in Nepal has been a bucket-list ambition of mine, and remains so. I've long dreamed of hiking in the mountains, and savouring all that the Nepalese culture has to offer. I can vouch for their food and beer (which I've enjoyed on numerous occasions). Increasingly, their cricket has become something that has intrigued me. Whilst I don't expect them to gain Test status anytime soon, I have a sneaky suspicion that we'll be hearing a little bit more from the boys from Nepal.

Cricket was introduced back in the 1920's, and for many years, was played among the elite. This remained the case until the 1950's, although the game was played mainly in Kathmandu. It wasn't until the 1980's that the game spread to other parts of the country, which now claims to have over 70 grounds and 17 turf wickets. The main ground is at Tribhuvan University, with other grounds currently being built. Currently, their domestic competition has 10 teams.
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ICC Affiliate status was granted in 1988, and was bumped up to Associate status in 1996. Since then, Nepal has taken part in the Intercontinental Cup twice, although didn't make it past the first stage. They were pretty unlucky in 2005, having beaten the UAE, but having to settle for a rain affected draw against Hong Kong. A win there would have seen them through. With the creation of the World Cricket League, Nepal started life in division 5, winning that in 2010, and only recently winning division 4. In that time, Afghanistan leapfrogged over them in their well documented rise. Earlier this year, Nepal took part in the World T20 qualifiers, finishing fifth in their group, with a record of 3 & 4.

Paras Khadka is the team captain, having lead the side since 2009, having captained Nepal at various under age levels. He was a member of the 2006 U/19 WC team which turned over Ireland and South Africa, and was made team captain at the 2008 U/19 WC, during which the official program described him as being "arguably good enough to be in the line-up of any of the Test-playing countries." He bats and bowls, and seems to have big future in the game.

Other stars in the Nepalese side include Subash Khakurel and Anil Mandal, whom both scored centuries in the recently concluded division 4 WCL, and Gyanendra Malla, who also got amongst the runs. With the ball, lefty Basanta Regmi, and leggie Shakti Gauchan look to carry the hopes of the team on their shoulders.

With a young squad, should they stick together and have the opportunity to play against better teams, Nepalese cricket should improve in leaps and bounds. Whilst they might not be Afghanistan, they might not end up being far off. With their recently won promotion to division 3, a birth in the ICC intercontinental Cup might not be far away. Once there, who knows, they might just spring a surprise on some unsuspecting teams! Good luck to them.
"Hey, doll. Could you scare up another round for our table over here? And tell the cook this is low grade dog food. I've had better food at the ballgame, you know? This steak still has marks from where the jockey was hitting it." Al Czervik, aka Rodney Dangerfield in "Caddyshack" (1980)

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from_the_stands
 
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Re: Cricket in Nepal

Postby Alviro Patterson » Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:01 pm

Seeing Nepal in the World Cup or World Twenty20 at some stage in the future would be an achievement.
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Re: Cricket in Nepal

Postby GGAS » Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:14 pm

Good read, very informative. Thanks for that.
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Re: Cricket in Nepal

Postby from_the_stands » Sun Dec 01, 2013 5:37 am

Nice to see Nepal qualify for the world T20 next year. Too bad about the format of the competition though. The only Test nation they come up against is Bangladesh. Why they couldn't have 4 groups of 4 is beyond me.
"Hey, doll. Could you scare up another round for our table over here? And tell the cook this is low grade dog food. I've had better food at the ballgame, you know? This steak still has marks from where the jockey was hitting it." Al Czervik, aka Rodney Dangerfield in "Caddyshack" (1980)

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Re: Cricket in Nepal

Postby from_the_stands » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:28 am

Nepal are off to a winning start in their world T20 campaign, by easily accounting for their associate rivals Hong Kong, on what looked to be a pretty hot night in Chittagong. Nepal's batting looked promising, especially from Gyanendra Malla and skipper Paras Khadka, whom also opened the bowling, taking a wicket with his first ball! Nepal seem to have a pretty well thought out game plan last night, and stuck to it pretty well. The spinners did most of the damage during the HK run chase. What I really liked about this Nepal side, other than their obvious enthusiasm for the game, was that their players were all indigenous, and didn't feature any ring ins, like we tend to see with the other associate teams, and especially their opponents from last night. Next up for this young side is a clash with hosts Bangladesh, where a cricketing lesson no doubt awaits. Finally, a match-up with Afghanistan will round out a memorable experience for Nepal, who will savour the memories of playing in their first major ICC tournament forever.
"Hey, doll. Could you scare up another round for our table over here? And tell the cook this is low grade dog food. I've had better food at the ballgame, you know? This steak still has marks from where the jockey was hitting it." Al Czervik, aka Rodney Dangerfield in "Caddyshack" (1980)

2009 India vs SL ODI prediction guru
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from_the_stands
 
Posts: 9842
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:54 pm
Location: Pandora
Team(s) Supported: Aussie cricket team, Liverpool FC (it's a long story) and the mighty blue boys in the AFL. I like watching good teams performing well. An advid fan of the Olympic Games. Looking forward to Rio in 2016 & Tokyo in 2020!

Re: Cricket in Nepal

Postby Alviro Patterson » Thu Jul 17, 2014 2:33 am

Nepal are making a case for themselves to host neutral cricket matches - through board related tournaments to Pakistan international matches and possibly luring counties to do pre-season training there.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/nepal/conte ... 60605.html
"Stats are there to be broken" Dominic Cork
"They took all our players away, banned our captain and we still came away with a ten-wicket victory" Jason Gillespie
"You won't get anywhere slouching about half out of bed" Geoffrey Boycott


2011-12 Oz vs India Tests FL guru | 2012-13 Oz vs SA Tests FL guru | 2012-13 Bang vs WI combined FL guru | 2013 Friends Life T20 FL guru | 2015 The Ashes FL guru | 2015 County Championship D2 FL guru | 2016 Womens WT20 FL guru| 2016 Eng v Pak Tests FL guru | 2017 Kia Super League FL guru | 2018 County Championship D2 FL guru
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