Nepali men’s Under-19 cricket team has a history of winning ACC U-19 title 4 times in a row. Nepali U-19 girls team is chasing the same target. The team is prepared to participate in ACC U-19 women’s championship, in Kuwait, with an aim to take the title for the third time.
Among boys, Nepal won the title 4 times, between 2001 to 2007, and played in ICC U-19 World Cup five times. Come August, Nepal will play in the U-19 World Cup for the sixth time, in Australia. Youth Asia Cup 2001 (late called U-19 ACC championship) was the first ever international title Nepal won, under captaincy of Binod Das.
It was the U-19 team, who started making history among women as well. ACC U-19 championship in 2008 (Thailand) was the first international trophy for Nepali women, in cricket. Two years later, Nepali girls defeated Bhutan to defend the title in Singapore and now Nepal is on a hat-trick of ACC U-19 trophy. If the girls are not able to take the title, Nepal will be without any ACC trophy for the first time in two years.
In past two title wins, Sita Ranamagar, Sarita Magar, Mamata Thapa, Gita Chudal and Trishna Singh were part of the core team, along with captain Nery Thapa. Now these players are not part of the team, due to age barrier. This might add to some pressure to the team. Opening bowler Sonu Khadka will be playing for the third consecutive time. But Coach Nabin Singh says it will not make any difference. He is confident of hat-trick.
“As others have said, this team is better than previous ones. So I see a good possibility of win,” Singh says, “that’s why we have practice matches with the senior players available in Kathmandu. The team is playing well.” He is confident also because his players are generally fit, apart from minor niggles. He feels a lot of allrounders in the team is a ‘plus point’.
Rubina Chhetri, Indu Verma, Shradha Aryal, Arati Bidari were part of the team when Nepal won title in Singapore. Rubina, who took 3 wickets against Bhutan in the final, is leading the team this time around. She is hopeful of the title under her captainship. She says, “If we play according to our potential, this is the best team we have so far. Earlier, the team relied on Nery Thapa’s batting, now we don’t rely on one single player. All bat well, it’s an allround team.”
Nepal is grouped along with China, UAE, Malaysia and Thailand in ‘Group A’, in the championship that will be played in February 3-10. Four years ago, Nepal had defeated Malaysia in first match and the final. Likewise, Nepal had handed defeat to China, by 66 runs, and Thailand, by 83 runs, in the same edition of the tourney.
Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) organized first U-19 national women’s championship and formed the national team thereafter. Janakpur (Region 7), which was formed as a separate region only one and half years earlier, became the champion for the first time. Naturally, many players from the team made it to the national team. Anuradha Chaudhary, Saraswati Chaudhary, Mamata Chaudhary, Santoshi Chaudhary and Kavita Gautam, who are likely to form the core of the team are from Janakpur.
Coach of the Janakpur team, Nabin Singh has become the coach of U-19 women’s team. He looks as nervous as he is excited to lead the national team for the first time. But he rejects it, “If the coach is nervous, what will happen to the players?”
He understands that 25 over matches will be challenging for the girls. But he has faith in his team, as he has players like Rubina, Indu, Mamata, Anuradha, Sonu and Kavita in the ranks.
(Ed: The write-up appeared in Nagarik national daily, on 31st January, 2012)