Cricket is the second-most popular sport in the world after football (soccer). This game originated in southeast England and spread globally in the 19th and 20th centuries. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the governing body of cricket. There are 104 member countries in the world that play cricket, which includes 12 full members and 92 associate members. Test matches, one-day internationals (ODIs), and Twenty20 internationals are three formats of cricket played at the international level. Nepal is one of the associate members of the ICC where the craze of cricket is extraordinary; this credit goes to the enticing performances of our prolific players.
The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) governs the Nepali cricket team, which has the nickname “The Rhinos and Gorkhalis”. Since 1996, Nepal has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was awarded Twenty 20 International (T20) status by the ICC in June 2014 until the 2015 World Twenty 20 Qualifier. On March 15, 2018, this nation got One-Day International (ODI) status through the magical performance of Karan K.C.; Nepal also regained its Twenty-20 International (T-20) status. The ICC T-20 Qualifier in 2014 was the first ICC global event that Nepal played in Bangladesh, where Nepal displayed a terrific performance by defeating Hong Kong and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, we could not qualify for the T-20 World Cup. Watching the splendid performance of our team during the T-20 World Cup Qualifier still makes cricket fans nostalgic.
The spectacular performance of the Nepali cricket team in the ICC Cricket World Cup League-2 will be remembered for a long time in the history of Nepali cricket. At one stage, the condition of our team was heart-wrenching as we were struggling to retain ODI status, which caused distress to all the cricket fans. We won just eight games out of 24 played; one game ended in a tie and the next without a result. Frequent changes of coaches, dissatisfaction of players with CAN regarding grading issues, groups among the players, cold relations among players with coach Manoj Prabhakar, and the absence of star cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane in charge of raping minors were the prime causes of the pathetic performance of our team. After the arrival of new coach Mr. Monty Desai as well as CAN’s decision to let Sandip play cricket after being released on bail, the reunion among players became a turning point in Nepal’s performance.
Senior Rhinos won 11 ODI games out of 12 played in two tri-series against Scotland, Namibia, and the UAE, PNG. This remarkable triumph gives us an opportunity to compete with good teams like West Indies, Netherlands, Zimbabwe and USA. Moreover, Nepal became the champion of the ACC Premier Cup, remaining unbeaten by thrashing all the teams in the tournament, and qualified for the Asia Cup for the first time in history. The dream of supporters watching Nepal play with mighty teams like India and Pakistan turned into reality through the groundbreaking performances of our diligent players. This has sent an alarm to strong teams that Nepal has the ability to outsmart them. Several records were registered in the names of our team and players; some of the major records are:
- Kushal Malla became the youngest player to score an ODI fifty on his debut and the youngest to score an international fifty.
- Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel became the first Nepali player to score 1,000 runs in an ODI.
- Nepal is the only associate team to feature in the list of quickest run-chase teams twice in the ODI.
- Aarif Sheik, Bhim Sarki, Gulsan Jha, and Kushal Bhurtel scored half-centuries while chasing gigantic 311 runs against the UAE. This is the first time four batters have scored a half-century in the same match.
- Nepal has never chased the challenging total of 311 runs against the UAE, 287, 278 runs against Namibia, and 275 runs against Scotland before.
- Nepal is the only associate nation to win eight ODI games consecutively.
- Nepal has clean-swept the ODI series twice in the ICC Cricket World Cup League, which is another record.
- Cricketer Sandip Lamichhane became the fastest player to take 100 ODI wickets, surpassing the record of global superstar Rashid Khan.
Likewise, our young Rhinos created another history by qualifying for the U-19 World Cup after a long interval of eight years remaining unbeaten. Our lads displayed a sensational performance against the UAE by defeating them by seven runs, opening the door to the U-19 World Cup. Choosing to bat first, Nepal set the target of 192 with the help of an outstanding half-century from Captain Dev Khanal. This total looked insufficient against the UAE, as they were heading to chase this target precariously. At one point, they were in a comfortable position to win the match, as they needed just 38 runs in the last eight overs with five wickets still in hand. However, the game turned in Nepal’s favor after the magnificent hatrick from Dipesh Kandel in the 48th over. UAE needed just eight runs in the last two overs with three wickets in hand, but Dipesh took consecutive wickets in his fourth, fifth, and sixth balls, which gave Nepal an unbelievable win. He was the star of the match, taking five crucial wickets for the teams to defend the target.
In a nutshell, the year 2023 has become a memorable year in the history of Nepali cricket for the brilliant performances of our rhinos. Inspite of not having a well-equipped infrastructure, adequate financial incentives, and match exposure with strong cricketing nations, the incredible performances portrayed by our players deserve a big salute. In addition, the concern authority must work being proactive for the overall development of cricket. This beautiful game has enhanced the name and fame of our nation at the international level.
This article is written by Laxman Raila
Leave a Reply