Contrary to high expectations,the men’s national cricket team of Nepal’s performance was
sorely disappointing in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 triangular
series in Canada.

They ended the series winless,much to our disbelief and chagrin.Incontrovertibly, they
underperformed and made a total hash of things,squandering the chance to redeem
themselves.

It was a tale of struggle and a run of poor form throughout for Head Coach Monty Desai
boys.Surprisingly they were blown out by familiar oppositions against whom they have had
success in the past.

The three teams were equally matched based on past match results,strengths and experiences.
The series was wide open and boiled down to consistency,focus,discipline, playing to the
potential and going that extra yard.

Home team Canada got rewarded for their impressive and strong performance at the end.
The Canadians performed consistently, got their act together and sustained the early
momentum they built from start to end.

They completely dominated the series and remained undefeated by winning all four
matches.On top of that,having accumulated maximum points they have valuted to the top of
the table standings.

Team Nepal’s low quality batting concern was exposed for the umpteenth time.The abject batting failure largely contributed to their downfall.

The batting average of the top six batters hit rock bottom.It was a clear case of batting slump
and batters inability to pull themselves out of it.

Indisputably,the batters have not done justice to their potential,despite getting
opportunities,time and time again,to prove themselves.

In fact,batting failure has become a regular feature and is proving to be a major obstacle for the team going forward in pursuit of lasting success.

To put it bluntly,batters have failed to make the much needed headway when it comes to batting performance.Instead they continue to battle inconsistency and poor form.

Batting is all about individual performance.They are responsible for their failure to score,time
after time.

It does not appear that they are learning from failures and resorting to appropriate action plans
to iron out their weak spots in order to improve their performance.

I wonder if they are lacking focus,commitment,self-belief,mindset,will power,confidence and
seriousness to work on their shortcomings to transform themselves into better and reliable batters.

More importantly,repeated mediocre performances,coupled with a losing streak in international
competitions doesn’t augur good for Nepal‘s ultimate dream of getting Test status.

Coach Desai who was the batting coach for the West Indies in the past has not been able to
address and fix the team’s deflating batting performance.

At the moment,it seems increasingly clear that there is no definitive answer to the team’s batting woes.

Having said that,there is an urgent need for improvement.Otherwise,frustration, humiliation,setbacks and disappointment will continue to pile up.

The present crop of batters are very young,promising and have a long road ahead of them.
However,they are well short of technical skills and confidence needed to perform consistently at
the highest level of competition internationally.

The sorry state of domestic cricket is one of the main reasons behind the national team’s poor performances.

The level of competitions played in the country is well short of international standards.

To make matters worse,there is a lack of adequate infrastructure and facilities.

Furthermore,absence of good quality pitches is impeding proper development of batters in
terms of skills and confidence.

In light of the situation,both batters and bowlers must be provided constant international
exposure against quality opponents.Certainly, that will help their growth and dramatically
improve performance.

The pressure of captaincy seems to be affecting the overall batting performance of young Rohit
Paudel who has been inconsistent lately.To add, he has not been able to display leadership
qualities and responsibilities.

He has lagged behind when it comes to motivating and inspiring the team to successful performances.

As I write this,Nepal finally secured two straight wins against Oman in the recently concluded
T20 Tri-series in Canada.

They conceded the first match to Canada. However,they missed the opportunity to avenge the
defeat in the second face off despite having the upper hand for the most part of the match.
They had to pay a heavy price for the loss. Victory could have made them the series champions
and ended their highly disappointing Canada tour on a positive note.

As Team Nepal heads to the United States for another round of the ICC Cricket World Cup
League 3,a bigger challenge awaits them.

They are up against formidable opponents in the likes of Scotland and the United States.Given
their latest performance which can be described mediocre at best,they have a mountain to climb.

They must turn things around quickly. They have to be consistent and at their very best to
stand a chance and avoid further embarrassment.

The team’s fortune will largely depend on the batting that has been unpredictable and
substandard. Also fielding must improve drastically and bowlers have to work their way through
to regain their mojo.