Rise from your own lights

Even a little lapse is enough to distract the national cricket team from its focus towards the fast-approaching ICC World Twenty20 and 50-over Qualifiers.

Living the World Cup dreams deep inside, a three-year of hard work has seen the Nepali boys take a modest leap towards Division-II from Division-V. Performance from the cricketers weighs heavier to the undertaking of the last three-year progress by the cricket governing body. 

In a recently concluded National Twenty20 match between Nepalgunj and Nepal APF Club, national team skipper Paras Khadka was captured in a video along with his teammates struggling to hold a makeshift tent to make sure the abrupt stormy rain at the Pulchowk Engineering College grouds doesn’t blow everything away.

The picture in fact is a bitter reality the cricketers have been living in so far. Unprofessional domestic structure, least facilities, a poor infrastructure and an inadequate support from CAN is what the cricketers have got so far. Mulpani Stadium project — which has still been pending for the last six years — is the biggest laughing stock.

But still the hard work on the field and a never-ending passion towards the game with a commendable mentoring from coach Pubudu Dassanayake and a result producing team led by a performing skipper, Nepali cricket has in fact flourished.

There have been few positive things from CAN — the nod given to the establishment of National Cricket Academy, support it gave to the cricketers’ exposure abroad and the establishment of High Performance Programme. 

However, the cricket governing body seems like missing the most important aspect — the acknowledgement of national team’s sensational progress and the status it currently has in the world cricket map.

Nepal are currently ranked 21st in the world and 11th among the Associate and Affiliate nations. If aspirations are to be achieved, Nepal will play the ICC World Twenty20 and 50-over World Cup. 

But, the dissatisfaction over the recent New Delhi tour and comparision with other Qualifiers-preparing team’s preparation, CAN doesn’t seem like realising the importance of the two upcoming tournaments. 

World Cups — jackpot if a tiny nation like Nepal could hit and a jackpot which couldn’t be ruled out to be achieved.

But CAN missed.”Everyone needs to know what is going on with Nepali cricket. We are used to surviving under this scarcity. We have done all our hard work to build the confidence that, we can reach even bigger heights,” a positivity from Paras might relieve everyonge expecting big things.

Positivity has still flown under these circumstances but this doens’t mean CAN is permitted to do less. This positivity from team’s leadership is only for those loving the game to have faith in our boys and the players who need to see light even in this darkness.

Whatever the latest run-up might have been, positivity will make you feel that everything in front looks very bright. The Nepalese shared the joy in the recent festival of lights and here we are, standing at the threshold of history — rise with your own lights from the darkness.