Hundreds of cricket fans reached the Tribhuvan International Airport and joined the four-hour victory parade to celebrate the biggest achievement of Nepali cricket so far.[break]
The Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Sports Council (NSC) organized a function to felicitate the team on NSC premises after the parade. Youth and Sports Minister Ram Kumar Shrestha, Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Nepal, NSC Vice-president Pitambar Timalsina and Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama garlanded the players and handed over letters of appreciation to them.
Chairman of the Interim Election Council of Ministers Khil Raj Regmi invited the players to his office at Singha Durbar in the afternoon and felicitated the national heroes. On the occasion, Regmi informed the cricketers that the government has already decided to reward the cricketers with Rs 350,000 each.
Meanwhile, UCPN (Maoist) felicitated the cricketers at the party headquarters at Paris Danda with a cash reward of Rs 25,000 each from the party fund.
Nepal lifted the Division 3 trophy beating Uganda by five wickets in the final on Sunday. Nepali team arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday at 9:30 am.
Skipper speaks
Nepali skipper Paras Khadka said they were overwhelmed by the warm reception. He also urged the authorities to make coordinated efforts to prepare the Nepali team for the World Cup Qualifiers. "We are playing both the World T20 Qualifiers and the World Cup Qualifiers in the next eight months. We should start preparations immediately. It´s high time to invest in cricket," said skipper Khadka.
"We´ll not get better opportunities than this. We players are ready to work hard and the authorities should support us," he added.
Khadka credited the success to coach Pubudu Dassanayake. Dassanayake was not with the team as he is in Canada to meet his family.
Authorities pledge support
Chairman of the Council of Ministers Regmi congratulated the Nepali team and vowed to support cricket from the government side. "Whatever the players have achieved at the international level despite constraints is invaluable," said Regmi.
"It´s high time to develop cricket infrastructure and make Nepali cricket more professional so that players can earn a living through cricket," added Regmi. He suggested to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, NSC and Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to come up with concrete programs for cricket development.
He also asked CAN to start preparations for the World Cup Qualifiers scheduled to be held in New Zealand in January 2014. "The government will consider all the positive plans and programs initiated by NSC and CAN seriously and extend full support to execute them," said Regmi.
Earlier, Youth and Sports Minister Shrestha had vowed to construct a cricket stadium of international standard at Mulpani, Kathmandu while NSC Member Secretary Lama said that the council would lobby for the construction of the stadium.
CAN President Tanka Angbuhang requested the government to give cricket top priority. "We would soon be known as a cricketing nation but we need support from the government," said Angbuhang.
Meanwhile, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he would discuss the recent success of Nepali cricket in the High-Level Political Committee and suggest to the government to support infrastructure development and preparation for the qualifiers.
No time for lunch
Following long journey from Bermuda to Kathmandu with three transits, Nepali cricketers were exhausted. Felicitations one after another only made matters worse for them.
Because of the tight schedule of programs, they did not even get time to have lunch. CAN even failed to manage lunch packets for them. "It´s difficult to keep listening to the leaders on empty stomach," a cricketer commented.
PHOTOS: BIKASH KARKI
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