Nepali Cricketer Shakti Gauchan trained with the IPL team Rajasthan Royals last week. This created a buzz in Nepali cricket fraternity with fans hoping that he would somehow become the first Nepali player to play in IPL. It wasn’t to be as RR has already decided on the team.
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However, seeing that there was a lot of interest in Shakti in Nepal – including those in Social Media, the official twitter account of Rajasthan Royals put out a quiz question on April 4.
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Share“Here’s a quiz question: There is a player from an associate nation in the Royals ranks. Identify the nation he hails from.
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It wasn’t an easy question for many RR fans because even the term associate nation probably didn’t give them the idea of what it meant. RR followed up with another tweet encouraging the answer.
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Share“No correct answer so far. Don’t forget to reply with the hashtag #HallaBol.
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Some thought Kevon Cooper, an allrounder of West Indies.
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The first one to get the right answer was Mandakini Shalya:
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And, there is the official reply from RR:
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Share“The correct answer is Nepal and the name of the player is Shakti Gauchan. The first person to get it right was @mandakini_.
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And, clarifications that he was part of the squad for now and a little bit of praise:
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Share“Clarification guys. Shakti Gauchan is only part of the squad. Whether or not he gets to play remains to be seen. He’s a great talent though.
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Shakti, who reportedly impressed Rahul Dravid and bowled him out during a training session, got an opportunity to meet and take a snap with the Indian legend. A day earlier, he was quoted in The Himalayan Times as saying that when Dravid praised him, it was like playing IPL for him – a great moment:
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And, a lot of Nepali tweeple followed up with question to RR whether Shakti had any chances of playing IPL.
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Share“@rajasthanroyals Will Shakti Gauchan be part of #RR in @ipl 5 ? #hallabol Nepal seek your reply
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Share“@rajasthanroyals Is it possible that he plays IPL this season? Or he might be choosen nxt season? Plz reply anyway bst of luck #hallabol
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Share“Can u tell us @rajasthanroyals whether Shakti Gauchan will b part of RR for entire IPL5 or not? #Hallabol
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And, here is an encouraging note (despite a no for the IPL between the lines) from RR:
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Share“For now, Shakti Gauchan will be training and gaining valuable experience at the nets. Nevertheless, a great leap ahead for Nepali cricket.
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And, we finish with Shakti’s picture with S Sreesanth – he is proud and happy; we are proud and happy.
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