Nepali cricket - still a long way to go

Once again Nepali cricket failed to produce when it mattered most. Sure an optimist can always find silver linings - be it the fact we reached the finals of the ACC Cup, won the WCL Division 5, or the brilliant performances of Nischal Pandey in the the ACC Under 16 Elite Cup - but in plain terms we are nowhere near where we should be given our geography and the massive popularity of cricket in the country.

For the countries we compete against in the lower rungs of international cricket, the sport is merely a recreational opportunity for immigrants and expats. A majority of their population do not even know that the sport exists and you would be hard pressed to find any significant local media coverage for it.

We should not be competitive with the likes of USA, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong - we should be destroying them. Yes, some of these teams are packed with non-nationals, but if we want to play against Afridi and Dhoni we need to easily be able to depose their little brothers.  With the resources Nepali cricket has access to (and I'm not simply talking about money), we should at least be an ODI nation and in the same company with Ireland, Canada, Netherlands, Scotland, Kenya and Afghanistan.

What is ailing Nepali cricket then? (And virtually every other sport in the country for that matter). PROFESSIONALISM! More on that in my next blog post in a weeks time. Until then Happy New Year to all of you.