Category Archives: Opinion

BY PRAKASH PHUYAL: Nepal is at the verge of a great cricketing future. It has proved to the world that this tiny country on the lap of Himalayas will not only be known for Mt Everest, but also for its cricketing force. Well, it might seems over ambitious from my part to say these things, but if provided with enough infrastructure and dedicated administrators, I along with thousands of cricket loving fan’s dream will surely come true.

I would like to start with two quotes: “India are more experienced team than us, our boys should learn from them,” said Nepal’s Sri Lankan coach Roy Dias. “I am really disappointed with the behaviour of the Indian team. Being an experienced and good team, they should set an example and let us learn that, but they didn’t do that,” said Nepal U-19 manager and spokesperson of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) Tarak Mani Dixit.

The future of Sri Lankan cricket coach Roy Luke Dias, the most successful foreign coach for Nepal, looks uncertain after his one-and-half-year contract with Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) ended yesterday. Dias has publicly expressed his desire to stay in Nepal, but has lamented CAN officials for not initiating contract extension process in advance. “If they wanted my contract extension they should have started the procedure in advance,” Dias told an English daily.

International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to cancel the World Cup Qualifying Series (WCQS) due to the financial contraints following the loss it bears after England and New Zealand’s boycott to world cup games. The world cup sponsors and television companies have also threatened to withheld the payment as ICC failed to persuade India to make their players to sign the controversial players contracts.

One of the most promising opening batsman of Nepal, Kiran Agrawal, has announced his retirement from cricket on Friday. “The future of Nepali cricket is bright, but I am retiring from it as I have to give more time to my business,” Kiran said. Kiran is running a motorcycle showroom in his hometown Dharan. He last played in ICC Trophy 2001 in Canada representing Nepal.

Balbro, an Indian company manufacturing sports goods, has signed three Nepalese cricketers on a promotional contract for three years. National vice-captain Binod Das, all-rounder Bardan Chalise and opener Paresh Lohani will receive crickets kit equivalent to Rs. 35,000 each year under the contract, according to Nirmal Kumar Rajbhandari, of New Sports Line, the authorized distributor of Balbro goods in Nepal. The players would have to use the clothing and kits provided by Balbro while playing.

The ACC U-15 ‘dream team’ is scheduled to play one two-day match and four one-day matches against the local teams of Sri Lanka in Colombo and Galle. The team selected from the best performing players of U-15 Asia Cup held in UAE will be led by Nepali captain Raj Shrestha and will feature five more Nepali players.

Sports can give you fame in a minute! That’s what some people believe. Be in the big time and do some extraordinary, you will be in no time famous. The U-15 cricket team did the both. It went to play U-15 Asia Cup in UAE and reached the semifinal of the tournament thwarting Bangladesh on the way.

When Keith McAuliff, CEO of New Zealand Sports Turf Institute, came to visit the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground a couple of years ago, he asked, “Where’s your pitch?” Incidentally, he was standing on it. Naturally, it is not that he did not know the difference between the pitch and the outfield. Just that the pitch hardly looked any different from the outfield making McAuliff, who was used to seeing green top on cricket pitches, unable to find it out.

Kalaiya Cricket Club (KCC) of Bara district held 24th Anniversary Function and second Annaul General Meeting recently in Muskan Plaza Hotel which was presided over by club chairman Sushil Chaugai.

If India had agreed to particpate in Asia Cup two years ago, he would have been the first Nepalese to play one-day international cricket. But his dream was scattered after the tournament was postponed after India denied to play given to the controvery of Kashmir between the two rival neighbours. But still there are chances that, Sher Bahadur Lama, who plays his international cricket for Hong Kong, can achieve it.

BY MAHESH ACHARYA: Nepali cricket has gained in stature with the national team emerging as the runners-up in the recently concluded ACC trophy in Singapore. It is a remarkable achievement for a country like Nepal where, though the cricket association was formed way back in 1946, serious cricket started only some six years ago.

George Bernard Shaw, most probably, would not feature in the ‘best writer’ in the ‘favorites’ category list of many a cricket lover, for he is believed to have said once, “Cricket is a game where eleven fools play and eleven thousand greater fools watch…” Many, for the same quote, felt that he missed the point, by miles. The point that cricket is a gentleman’s game. The point that it is the only thing that can be played over a period of five days and the result can still be a ‘draw’. But the essence of the game, for the fanatics, lies in that very thing – the turbulence within the tameness. The game, started by the British (there are some… Read More