Nepal's road of toil reaches the door of the ODI

tomorrow in Amstelveen, in the picturesque surroundings of the Amsterdamse Bos, the VRA cricket ground will be the site where Nepal will become an ODI nation Nepal will make its debut in International One Day cricket after South Africa's inaugural match against India against Eden, the first in a series of two matches against the Netherlands (return to ODI cricket after four years of absence) .Jardins in 1992, which also marked their return to the international after 22 years of isolation. [19659004] It took Nepal more time to get there than it really should have. In the early years of the new millennium, they were the main ass Asociates of Asia, their under-19s accumulated regular victories against full-fledged members at successive World Cups. But retained in part by the same negligence of the major games powers that affects to some extent each Associate, but probably more by the chronically chaotic administration at home, Nepal has lingered on the periphery of the top associate for more than a decade.

Since then, they have seen rivals emerge and eclipse them, including, of course, Afghanistan. In the early stages of the latter's abrupt rise, both enjoyed the rivalest rivalry in the Associated world, but nowadays, even the most ardent fan of Nepal (a title for the least disputed) would admit that the Afghans had passed. While Afghanistan was granted test status in June of last year, Nepal languished in the relegation zone of the World Cricket League Championship and even had the chance to compete in the first competition 50 years of the Associate. Division 2 of WCL 2015 in Namibia saw them and Kenya took both places available by Ireland and elevated Afghanistan to the ODI FTP.)

C & # 39; was the first time that Nepal reached the first division of the CMT. fourth division since the league's creation about ten years ago, and despite the opening of Scotland at Ayr, it will take them five games to record their first win – a five-game win wickets against Namibia in front of Tribhuvan University. Land in Kiritpur. They would only win three more at the end and finish second. Relegated to Division 2, too familiar, Nepal even had the chance to reach the World Cup Qualifier. They did it. Just. The 2018 division of the WCL in Windhoek has proven to be the most extraordinary, tightest and most difficult tournament in the history of the league. The victories of the last ball, the last stands of wickets, recoveries and setbacks, Nepal sneak through the skin of their teeth.

Once in Zimbabwe, however, Nepal will finally use their good fortune. After three successive defeats, they won a victory over Hong Kong (which looked good for the Super Six) with the two youngest players in the team, Rohit Kumar Paudel, 15, and the new Sandeep Lamichanne, the stars. – as they had been in Namibia. The victory almost saw Nepal until the next stage, but in the end, it was his former Afghan rivals who took advantage of a three-point tie with Nepal and Hong Kong, to win the tournament and to win a place at the World Cup. Nepal and Hong Kong were relegated to classification play-offs, where due to the lack of progress in the Netherlands and the new dubious status-awarding system, there was only one of them. only one ODI place on the supply.

end, and Nepal won comfortably. The youths again paved the way, four wickets for Lamichhane and a fantastic overall effort from Dipendra Singh Airee saw them skipper in Papua New Guinea for 114 and continue the runs with more than half of their overtaking. PNG's four-year stay as an ODI nation ended, while Nepal had a few hours ahead of them.

It is normal that they are now facing the Dutch in their first ODI because it was in The Dutch who sealed the rise of Nepal then beat Hong Kong later the same day that the Nepalese team refreshed a frenetic dashboard live at the Miekel hotel, and it was not the disconcerting decision to delay the granting of the status. round round (at the last qualifying status was stripped or granted immediately after decisive matches), both teams would have already marked the debut of the ODI in Kwekwe in Nepal during the play-off of 7th place. Instead, it was Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea who played for the wooden spoon in their last ODI for at least four years, to whom the honor of playing the 4000th One Day International of the game.

-not was comfortable, and even miss most of their players contracted from the outside (Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten and Ryan ten Doeste will not make the trip this week) the hosts are probably favorites to win two of two at home. The side of Paras Khadka has seen a remarkable revival in recent months, with seasoned activists like Binod Bhandari and Sagar Pun making way for a new generation, of which Paudel, Airee and Lamichhane are the main scouts.

The faces showed remarkable maturity in the campaign that earned them their new status, they remain relatively inexperienced at the one-but-higher, talented but callow level, and indeed it seemed that the Dutch were on the verge to expose this inexperience on Sunday. at Lord's, accumulate 174 runs in 16.4 overs before the rain comes. Lamichanne, despite all his talent, looked completely lost with a slippery ball in his hand as Michael Rippon and Scott Edwards took the attack on him.

The Rhinos of Nepal can take a little heart of the past of course, they upset a fort The Dutch were on the same field during their last visit, winning the second of two WCL championship matches at the VRA in 2016. But in truth their legions of fans would do better to linger over the future, especially because it's the fans themselves – more than the status, even more than the promise of their young team – that gives such a cause of optimism.

Whatever happens on the field in the coming days, tens of thousands are expected to plug into the live stream of the KNCB Game. Millions of others around the world will follow their side through live dashboards, ad hoc audio commentary,

social media or just out of date word of mouth. In Nepal itself, the matches will be televised, the KNCB having reached an agreement with Kantipur HD, estimated at about 35,000 euros (which would make these matches more comfortable than the Dutch). Win or lose, the Nepali side are superstars at home. Thousands of children in Nepal aspire to don red and blue, to be like their idols, or better. Some will undoubtedly, the rest will encourage them.

In the end, the official status given to these games by the ICC is little more than a number, a point of pride, certainly, but ultimately of interest to statisticians of the less imaginative kind. There is no financing attached, nor guarantee of facilities. Nepal has not yet confirmed clashes after these two ODI

outside the Asia Cup Qualifier in Malaysia in four weeks, and even with the future Unsure of the World Cricket League, their match against the UAE on 30 is the only other ODI on the calendar. Immediately after the victory that sealed their status, Paras Khadka described the Nepal program after the World Championship qualifier as "a little wild" and, beyond this oasis in Amstelveen, it still seems so far away.

Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea, who lost their ODI status while Nepal won theirs, detained him for four years without playing a single ODI against him. full opposition outside ICC tournaments. In total, they played only eleven bilateral ODIs among them, five of which were literally between them. There is reason to believe that Nepal will be luckier, at least in terms of bilateral relations with colleagues, it is on the ground, on the other side of the screen, where hundreds of thousands of spectators make Nepal cheaper.

Those same thousands are the reason – even if the list of games seems rare, the ineffective administration, and on the field, the team is still as unfavorable to his teammates – The long rise Nepal's term has taken on an air of inevitability. There may be setbacks, but the first echelon of cricket remains inexplicably hostile to newcomers, the Nepalese board of directors remains suspended, and the young people of Khadka are more promising than prowess.

But Cricket is rooted in the foothills of Nepal. Himalaya, and these are just his first fruits

Nepal: Paras Khadka (c), Gyanendra Malla, Anil Kumar Sah, Subash Khakurel, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Sharad Vesawkar, Dipendra Singh Airee, Arif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Basant Regmi, Shakti Gauchan, Lalit Bhandari, Karan Khatri-Chhetri, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sandeep Lamichhane

The Netherlands: Pieter Seelaar (c), Stephan Myburgh, Max O & # 39 Dowd, Ben Cooper, Wesley Barresi, Dan Braak, Michael Rippon, Scott Edwards, Hidde Overdijk, Low of Leede, Shane Snater, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren

RELATED STORIES