On November 16, Nepal were chasing 183 against Kenya, who
were favourites to win the Group B encounter in the ICC World Twenty20
Qualifier in Dubai. They needed 17 runs off the final over. In the middle were
the captain, Paras Khadka,
and Sharad Vesawkar.
As soon as the tall Vesawkar hit the first of three sixes to win the match, his
team-mate Sagar Pun began
to cry. Pun, a 20-year-old batsman, was padded up because he was the next man
in, and he cried louder as Vesawkar took Nepal closer to the target.
भिडिओ हेर्न तल क्लिक गर्नु होस्
"Matches like
these only bring the emotions out easily. Imagine if a wicket had fallen and he
[Pun] was the next man in, what might have happened," Khadka tells
ESPNcricinfo from Abu Dhabi with a chuckle, explaining Pun's reaction.
"Everybody was so
keen. Everybody was pushing themselves. Every one of us believes in fate. Every
one of us believes in God."
According to Khadka,
his players have worked "double" the amount they usually do, for this
tournament. "The belief was always there. But in the T20 format you just
never know which way the game can swing," he says. "There is no
substitute for hard work, even if it might take time. Three years ago, four
years ago, five years ago if anyone had asked us, do you want to play a World
Cup, our answer would have been - maybe yes. But how do we go about it?"
On Wednesday afternoon, in the dry heat of Abu Dhabi, Vesawkar
and Khadka found themselves in the middle once again, with Nepal's fate in the
balance. In the quarter-final against Hong Kong, with a spot in the World
Twenty20 at stake, Nepal needed 26 off the last two overs. With 10 balls to go,
Khadka attempted a risky second run and was dismissed. Nepal now needed 13 off
the final over, from medium-pacer Haseeb Amjad. Vesawkar started the over with
a straight six and then bottom-edged the next ball to the fine-leg boundary.
With one ball to go and scores level, all the Hong Kong fielders were inside the
circle. Vesawkar's powerful off drive pierced the field to deliver the most
important victory in the Affiliate nation's history. Nepal had qualified for
the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.
Nepal's journey
through the tournament in the UAE had been tense. They might not even have made
it to the knockouts, if not for a fractionally superior run rate to Scotland.
At the end of the group stage, Nepal and Scotland were level on eight points.
They were separated only by a net run rate calculated to the fourth decimal:
Scotland had 0.3792, while Nepal had 0.3794. "I do not know how they
calculated, but we had the belief. We had the hunger," Khadka says, still
unable to comprehend what his team achieved.
Vesawkar confesses
that the significance of their performance has not "sunk in"
completely because it has been a long-cherished dream, and now that they are
there it feels almost unreal. "It is the proudest moment of our
lives," he says. "We wanted to play a World Cup. It was a dream for
us. Finally it has come true."
Vesawkar started
following cricket when he was eight, after watching Sachin Tendulkar during the
1996 World Cup. "Sachin inspired me," Vesawkar says, recollecting the
days spent playing street cricket with tennis balls. He is happy he chased that
dream.
"We had no other
choice other than going for it," Vesawkar says about the final over
against Kenya. "Yesterday [against Hong Kong] was very important to us
because it was a do-or-die match and we had to qualify for the World Cup. There
is so much [of a] following back home and the expectations were really high.
The Kenya game was equally important, since the tournament could have gone
either way, but I still feel the Hong Kong match had more importance."
In May this year,
Nepal won the ICC World Cricket League Division Three title, beating Uganda in the final. It was Vesawakar who hit the
winning runs, completing a half-century in the process. Nepal had lost their
first two group matches but won all the rest to claim the title. It was their
biggest win at the time.
According to Khadka,
Nepal's Sri Lankan coach Pubudu
Dassanayake has "transformed" the team's progress and
development. "The introduction of our coach transformed everything. It has
been the same team, same players, but everyone has risen to the task."
During the match
against Hong Kong, Dassanayake, who joined Nepal after leaving the Canada job
following the 2011 World Cup, remained confident, though he feared his batsmen
had left themselves too many to get in the final over. "That was the only
hiccup," he says. "But we had already been involved in last-over
games."
भिडिओ हेर्न तल क्लिक गर्नु होस्
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Nations like Nepal
struggle for proper cricket infrastructure and resources. To prepare for the
ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, they travelled to Delhi in October to play
practice matches. Amit Mathur, the former BCCI administrator and currently
consultant with the Delhi Daredevils, helped organise the travel and practice
games. "Six months ago we went to Bharatnagar Cricket Academy, where we
were smashed by a couple of teams," Dassanayake says. "This time when
we were there we had victories against Under-25 sides from Railways and Delhi
District Cricket Association. That provided a shot of confidence and showed us
how much we had improved."
Dassanayake says the
dedication of Nepal cricketers must be admired, for most of them rely on their
board for basic needs, including their kit. "The Nepal Cricket Association
provided a kit to each of the 15 players. The players give their full time to
cricket but they do not benefit financially." When Khadka, a former
small-time school and college-level coach, says the players "have
dedicated" themselves to cricket "full time," you realise how
much they love the sport.
The ICC played its
part too, by promoting cricket in Nepal and providing exposure to players.
Dassanayake thinks that in a few years Nepal will be on par with Associates
like Ireland and Netherlands. "This is beginning of another level but we
have to do a lot of hard work," he says.
For Dassanayake, it is
satisfying that Nepal have played the same brand of cricket in victory and
defeat. "When we lost to Afghanistan in a seven-over rain-affected match,
we had been confident we could beat them and hence were upset. But we played
good cricket and stuck to our plans in front of strong crowd support for both
sides." On Friday, Nepal face Afghanistan again in the semi-finals of the
tournament. Vesawkar wants to beat the arch-rivals, another long-standing
desire, but for now he cannot forget the crowd that gathered at the Sheikh
Zayed Stadium to infuse the team with energy.
After the victory
against Hong Kong, as Khadka and his men sang the patriotic anthem "Rato
Ra Chandra Surya", the crowd joined the chorus to make the moment that
much more special. "It is almost like a festival back home. There have
been rallies, candle-light functions and such from the moment we
qualified," Khadka says. "Our home minister called us to congratulate
the team. People are very excited. As a country we have been waiting for
something to unite us. I think cricket has become the unifying factor."
When Khadka got out
against Hong Kong, he saw Pun crying once again. This time, even Khadka was
counting prayer beads in his mind. "It was crazy. When I was batting I was
in the zone. You work so hard all your life and it is right there in front you.
And then I got out with 10 balls left." Khadka recollects the moment. He
had removed his helmet and gloves but he did not sit down. "I was standing
there and praying. Please, please, God, you cannot be cruel.
"In the end it
was fate. I believe in destiny. Honest work paid off."
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