There faces were grim because they were axed from the national cricket team after serving it a long time. They were sad because it was unpredicted as they were jewels of the team. They were weighing each word before pronoucing it so that they wouldn’t tell anything wrong. Yet they all showed the determination that was unlikely to see in the hearts of the people in such a state. They all vowed they would perform and would make a comeback.
After a humiliating 10-wicket loss to visiting United Arab Emirates at own home turf, the selection committee of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) made a unprecedented decision – to exclude captain Raju Khadka, fast-bowler Mehboob Alam and reliable batsman Dipendra Chaudhary.
They all are senior players – and have achieved stardom as cricketers. But they were not performing their best in recent matches and they know it. It made them easier to bear the shock of exclusion. And it looks like the exclusion will have a good effect on them as they all want to make a strong comeback. Probably, that determination is the element which has made them star performers.
“I have taken it positively,” Raju told NepalCricket.com in his hotel room where he was watching India vs Australia test match on television with Mehboob and Dipendra (when all of other cricketers were at the field practicing). He looked calm and relaxed although he was saying that it hurted when he first heard the news. “Naturally, it hurted,” he said adding that ‘tireness of playing for so long might have affected his performance.’
Raju was a regular customer of the team since his debut in 1996 and was the fourth man of handle the senior side.
Mehboob, the aggressive opening batsman and bowler, said he had not a slightest idea about the exclusion. “I was not batting well, but I was doing good with the ball,” he said. “I could have batted down the order.” He too however had no distasteful words to speak. “I believe the selection has been done for the good of the team,” he said. “If the team performs well, I will be happy.”
The 23-year-old from Rajbiraj who made senior debut in 2000 claimed he would play ‘no matter what happens in future.’ “I will play, I will play my natural game,” he added. Mehboob was man of the series in the 2002 ACC Trophy when Nepal reached the final and is preparing to go to Qatar to play for a local club.
Another young man from Rajbiraj, Dipendra was frank while talking. “It’s all part of the game,” he said. “But I will prove that I was capable of being in the team.” He didn’t play against UAE because of knee injury. He has recovered. “I will perform and make the selectors regret about their decision,” he said adding that he had always scored good after a dropped game. The 24-year-old who long held the best bowling performance of six wickets from his debut tournament in 1998 believed he could play for 10 more years and would certainly return to the team.
The only concern for all of them was about the tournament where they could showcase their performance. The only tournament that CAN takes account while selecting players is national league in which a players get not more than 5 games and there are months remaining for that.
The reaction of these players is probably what was expected by the selection committee while excluding them. “They were not axed,” chief selector Bijaya Sharma had told NepalCricket.com. “They can always make a comeback.” Sharma had added that they wanted committment from each players, and that would probably what they will be getting when these players return – and that would certainly make the team strong.