By Pawan Agrawal
Nepal is all set to take on Hong Kong in a three-day fixture in Hong Kong from October 29. The preparation of the Nepali team is almost over after it lost against UAE in the home ground. I don’t have any idea about what the Nepali team specifically worked on after the defeat. As far as I understand, there was nothing lacking in terms of skills, techniques and talents.
But the two big components that were missing were the application of the players in the game, and team sprit. It was pretty evident from the way players carried themselves; the way they played their strokes and the level of efforts they put in. I’m sure coach Roy Dias and the team’s management has noticed what went lacking and must have worked on this.
I’m bewildered because team spirit that used to be our major strength was nowhere to be noticed. We’ve lacked in terms of facilities that our opponents generally have. But despite that, we’ve always produced extraordinary results with the help of team spirit and dedication of the players. This is one area of advantage our team has always had over our competitors. Hence, we can’t afford to forgo this ingredient that easily if we’re eyeing at the ODI status.
Now, if the team sprit is down, what are the reasons behind this and who’re responsible to correct this situation and lift the sprit of the team again? Are the players responsible, or the captain, the coach, or the team management, or someone else? Are some players taking their place in the team for granted and bringing down the morale of the team?
If I were to answer these questions, I would place the blame primarily on the players. Certainly, the onus lies on the players to play with a team sprit. If players need to be motivated each and every time, then I think we have the wrong people in the team. The desire to perform has to come from within the individuals themselves. The coaches and team management’s role is to nurture the environment. There are times when players need to be reminded of their responsibility. And it is here, I believe, the captain’s and senior players’ roles become crucial; and they can do this by living by example. But players cannot get away with any excuse for not playing as a team.
If the team doesn’t have collective sprit, it means the players are putting their personal goals and aspirations before the team. It also means they are pulling each other’s legs instead of helping their team members perform to the best of their potential and sacrificing personal aspirations for the team’s objective. This means individual success is not celebrated as a team.
And if players think that they can achieve their personal aspirations without correcting their behavior, they are nurturing illusion. Cricket is such a game that one must think of winning to actually achieve his personal goals. One has to create the habit of helping his teammates every time and celebrating individual performance collectively. There’s no other way out for players to perform their best without playing as a team.
Moreover, we shouldn’t forget that once we stop performing as a team, which is very likely, we might be overlooked by both ACC and ICC, which would be disastrous for Nepali cricket. We don’t have adequate local resources to fund this game at this level. We also shouldn’t forget that our commendable performance in the past earned all the facilities that we’re enjoying at present.
I hope all concerned must have realized these facts after our defeat against UAE. The selectors have taken some tough decisions while selecting the team for this tour, which I think is a strong message to all the players not to take their place in the team for granted.
But selectors too need to be very cautious while taking this sort of decisions, as it would otherwise shake the confidence of all the players.
(The author is a former captain of Nepali cricket team and writes occassionally for NepalCricket.com)