KATHMANDU, Oct 14: The national cricket team returned Nepal on Saturday to a minimal fanfare after winning the ICC World T20 Asia Region Qualifiers ‘B’ in Malaysia. Nepal won five matches and shared a point with Singapore in the last match after rain abandoned the match on its route to win the trophy on net run rate on Thursday.

The national team skipper Paras Khadka was convinced that Nepal played to its standards and met the expectations in tricky conditions and format in Malaysia. “We played to our standards. We played to the expectations. Conditions were not easy. Anything can happen in a T20 game. People think we are going to score 350 but it doesn’t happen like that. They are also cricket teams of certain level. We tried our best to limit them to low scores,” said the 31-year-old at the Tribhuvan International Airport upon his arrival in Kathmandu.

The captain also mentioned about the upcoming challenges next year for the current winning momentum to continue to do well in future tournaments. “This was only first stage, next stages are further challenging. Expect for the last tournament (ACC Asia Cup Qualifiers) we have done well this year. We hope to continue like that. Next year is going to be more competitive.”

Similarly, he was all praises for young spin bowlers, Sandeep Lamichhane and Lalit Rajbanshi, who finished first and second in wickets tally in the tournament. “Lamichhane performances have been outstanding. I hope, he continues to do so. Rajbanshi has done well in the last year or so for the national and the franchise teams. Pradeep Airee also did well on his comeback. Competition is a good thing for the national side.”

Likewise, he revealed that the selection of a fresh squad was on cards, but given the magnitude of the tournament, the selection committee decided otherwise and preferred experience. “We had in mind to select a completely new squad. But this was a qualifying tournament, a matter of the country. In T20 format anything is possible. However, we tried to experiment as much as possible. ” 

He further added the possibilities of new opening pairs in different formats. “We want to be assured on our opening combination two months prior to the ICC World T20 global qualifiers next year. We will keep trying different combinations. There will definitely be different pairs for T20 and ODI games.”

Finally, he expressed his concerns over stagnated training and coaching methods according to the modern demands of the game. The team has set eyes on the ICC World T20 event and expects to see changes in support staff to achieve that. “We have been stagnated with our training and coaching methods in recent times. We need specialists, experts in a long term to plan in a new way as we have set our target high to play world cup sooner than later.”

Lamichhane flew directly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Malaysia to participate in the ongoing Afghanistan Premier League (APL) to represent his team Nangarhar Leopards.  

Similarly, Sharad Vesawkar stayed in Malaysia to participate in the Level-2 coaching training hosted by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

 
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