Tamata made such comment upon the team's arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport from Malaysia on Friday. Nepal finished runner-up in the ACC U-19 Premier League, winning four out of five league matches. South Asian rival Afghanistan secured the top position.
There is only one spot remaining for the World Cup and that will be decided by the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers slated for October 14 to 23 in Malaysia. Nepal, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Uganda and the USA will compete in round-robin format to secure a place at the World Cup.
Coach Tamata said that the current squad will have to face a stern test at the qualifiers.
"Our players performed to their potential in Malaysia and I am happy with the performance. However, the upcoming qualifier is a higher-level event that needs more hard work," said coach Tamata.
"We have one month for preparation and if we can find new prodigies, that will be best for the team. Otherwise, we will have to polish the same players. We need to send some of the players to the countries like India and Bangladesh to groom them. Then only we can expect positive results in the qualifiers," added Tamata. According to Tamata, Nepali players need more match exposure.
Meanwhile, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), which had decided to host the U-19 National Cricket Tournament from the second week of September to select players for the qualifiers, has cancelled the event citing the current political mayhem in the country.
It means that there are less chances of new players joining the current team.
CAN Acting General Secretary Uttam Karmacharya said that the current squad, which includes 14 regular and four reserved players, as well as some players from last year's squad will be in the closed-camp training for the qualifiers while new players will get chance through trial.
"If coaches of the regional-level teams suggest any player for the U-19 squad, they will have to undergo trial and will be selected by our national coach," informed Karmacharya, who added that the closed-camp training will be start after 10 days.
This will be the third straight time that players are being selected for the international event without national selection tournaments.
CAN did not organize section events for the ICC World Twent20 Qualifiers and ACC U-19 Premier League either.
Meanwhile, coach Tamata said that Nepal failed to perform against Afghanistan due to lack of match exposure and the collapse of opening batsmen.
"We lost only to the Afghans, who were considered the title favorite from the beginning. There is a remarkable difference between Afghanistan and Nepal. To beat the standard of Afghanistan, we need to develop our domestic structure where cricket should be played for at least eight months," said Tamata.
Similarly, Nepal's U-19 skipper Raju Rijal said that they got a chance to know about the condition of Malaysia and that will be a great help in the qualifiers.
"We got familiar to the weather and wicket conditions of Malaysia and that will be beneficial for us in the upcoming tournament," said Raju.
Sushil's extraordinary spell
Sushil Kandel, who stole the show during Nepal's last match of the ACC U-19 Premier League on Thursday, said that he got nervous in the last over against Saudi Arabia.
Sushil produced extraordinary bowling figures for Nepal in the match as he bagged four wickets in his 10-over spell with nine maiden overs and conceded only 12 runs.
"After throwing away nine consecutive maiden overs, I got nervous in the last over and conceded 12 runs," said Sushil, who had also claimed four wickets of the UAE in Nepal's opening match. He bagged a total of 11 wickets in the tournament.
"I always wanted to throw dot balls and I did the same thing against Suadi Arabia. After maintaining nine maiden overs, I felt I did something for the team," said Sushil, who added that his strength is bowling and will work to bring variation in his bowling.
Meanwhile, Coach Tamata said that Sushil is a new talent. "I was quite happy when he threw seven maiden overs and I said to continue his bowling for two more overs but there was break in his bowling after the eighth over that affected his rhythm and conceded 12 runs in the last over," said Tamata.
Tamata added that players like Sushil should be provided more exposure and should be sent to other countries for grooming.
Cricket coach plans to groom young guns
Asia Cup qualification uncertain
Nepal's U-19 cricket team coach Jagat Tamata said that it is yet to be decided officially if Nepal has qualified for the ACC U-19 Asia Cup or not. Upon his arrival in Kathmandu from Malaysia on Friday, Tamata said that the qualifying process for the Asia Cup is on but the details are yet to be confirmed.
Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA), which hosted the ACC U-19 Premier League that concluded on Thursday, had declared that top three finishers -Afghanistan, Nepal and Malaysia - qualified for the U-19 Asia Cup.
