"High quality bowling from the Australians took us by surprise in the first match. Some of the players didn´t play responsibly throughout the tournament," lamented Dassanayake.[break]
However, Dassanayake said players being unaccustomed to playing conditions in Australia was the main reason behind Nepal´s failure.
"We could have performed better but unfortunately that didn´t happen. The conditions in Australia were completely different from what we are accustomed to. We were outplayed by the conditions there," said Dassanayake. "There was extra bounce on the wicket and there were quality fast bowlers," he added.
Nepali team arrives. (Photo: Keshab Thoker)
It was the worst ever result in the U-19 World Cup history for the Nepali team. Nepal started the tournament as 11th ranked team but finished 13th among the 16 participating teams.
Nepal lost first four matches in the tournament and this is Nepal´s worst losing streak in the U-19 World Cup. The defeat at the hands of Australia and Sri Lanka were more humiliating as Nepal was dismissed for 79 against Sri Lanka and 82 against Australia.
Dassanayake admitted that the Nepali batsmen were outmanuevered by Australian fast bowlers.
"We had a high morale when we left for Australia but it was not enough. We were not able to play quality swing bowling," said skipper Prithu Baskota.
The U-19 World Cup remained disappointing for the skipper in terms of individual performance. He scored only 48 runs during the entire tournament.
"Prithu is strong mentally and he can bounce back any time," said Dassanayake. "Prithu fell prey to quality bowling on many occasions. He was good against Ireland," he added.
Coach, captain off to Malaysia
Meanwhile, Coach Dassanayake, U-19 Captain Baskota and opening batsman Subash Khakurel left Kathmandu on Sunday evening to join the Nepali national team, which is in Malaysia for the ICC World Cricket League Division 4.
The Division 4 is scheduled to be held in Malaysia from September 3 and four U-19 players -- Baskota, Khakurel, Pradeep Airee and Rahul Vishwakarma-- are included in the national team.
According to Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal, players and the coach could not fly to Malaysia directly from Australia, as the association could not arrange air tickets.
Vishwakarma and Airee will fly to Malaysia on September 1.
"Vishwakarma and Airee were called by ICC in Canberra to watch their bowling actions. Earlier, ICC had informed us that the two players should stay for three extra days in Australia but it din´t take long. However, we had already arranged tickets for different dates," clarified Pyakuryal.
Khakurel´s current form could be a new revelation for the Nepali national team in Malaysia as the opener was the only top order batsman with an impressive performance in Australia. He was the leading run scorer for Nepal with 155 runs that included a half century against England. "I had taken the U-19 World Cup as a test. It will definitely help me in Malaysia," said Khakurel.
Meanwhile, skipper Baskota vowed to bounce back in Malaysia. "Batting certainly is an area where I need to work on a lot. I will make up for my batting failures in Malaysia," he said.
´It was a part of research´
Nepal´s assistant coach Jagat Tamata said ICC sent the three Nepali bowlers -- Airee, Vishwakarma and Sagar Pun -- to Canberra only for a routine research. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had called three Nepali bowlers along with nine bowlers from other countries for a test. "The bowlers were just a part of the ICC research for the new laboratory," said Tamata. Tamata had accompanied Nepali bowlers to Canberra.
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