“Cricket is my favorite sport”
When this line comes from the head of the country’s executive body, it means something for the lovers of the game. These were the lines, coming from Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Prime Minister of Nepal. He was speaking at the prize distribution ceremony for the U-19 Women’s team, who recently won the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship, for the third time in a row.
“During my college days in India, I used to play a bit,” Bhattarai said. It is no secret that PM Bhattarai studied Engineering in India and is known in political circles to have good connections with Indian establishment. “I try to watch it on TV when I can. I listen to the commentary.”
“During the meeting of my party (Unified Maoists) in Sindhupalchowk last year, I stopped the meeting and watched World Cup cricket,” Bhattarai told the girls, who were receiving the biggest prize ever given to women cricketers in Nepal. Each of the title winning members of the team was given Rs 200,000.
The PM went on to say that this was a symbolic felicitation. “Win more titles, we’d felicitate you in a bigger way,” said the PM.
Prime Minister Bhattarai said that South Asia was a hub of cricket. “India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won World Cup. Bangladesh is coming up. We should try to use the opportunity that is there.”
Terming the U-19 Women’s team as heroines, he said that ‘the country needed heroes during difficult times’ and the team had made the country ‘proud’.
At the same function, Secretary at the Ministry of Sports, Sushil Ghimire said, “the government is focusing on infrastructure building with cricket’s popularity in mind”. He explained that ground was being made in Mahendranagar due to the same reason. His logic was that the ground will link entire Far Western Region’s cricket with Uttarakhand of India and it shall help in the development of cricket in the region. This is the same ground where Cricket was played in the 6th National Games recently. Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and National Sports Council had received quite a bit of flak from experts and players alike, for making them play in underprepared ground and matting wickets.
In 2010, when the U-19 women’s team won the same title, the team members had received Rs 100,000 each, from then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. The prize has been doubled this time around. Many see it as the ‘benefit’ of having the Prime Minister and CAN President from the same party. CAN President Tanka Angbuhang is Central Committee member of the Maoist party.
Generally, the nexus of politics and sports is not considered healthy. But for the team members of U-19 Women’s team, this has yielded better fruit, at least this time.