'Why don't Bangladesh play against us?' Nepal’s cricket board president regrets

|| CF CORRESPONDENT ||

Nepal's passion for cricket is legendary, with packed stands in Kathmandu and billboards featuring cricketers a common sight in the cities. This fervor has carried over to the ongoing T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies, where Nepalese fans are making their presence felt both on and off the field.

The story of Nepalese cricket is as much about its devoted fans as it is about the players. Matches in Kathmandu regularly attract enthusiastic crowds, and this enthusiasm has followed the team to Dallas, Lauderhill, and Kingstown.

Despite a tough start in the tournament, with a loss to the Netherlands in their opener and a heart-wrenching one-run defeat against South Africa, Nepal is determined to bounce back. They are gearing up to deliver a memorable performance against Bangladesh tomorrow.

Chatur Bahadur Chand, who is the President of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), opened up with Cricfrenzy and said he is very proud of his team’s performance and wants to play against Test playing countries regularly.

“This is a great experience for Nepal. Nepal played good cricket against the Netherlands in Dallas, but we were a bit unlucky and couldn't win. Yesterday, the boys played exceptionally well against a big team like South Africa, especially in the bowling department. The team performance was good, but unfortunately, we lost by 1 run. This is a big blow for Nepal cricket. However, we are not thinking about that anymore. Tomorrow we will play against your country. I am sure the boys are eager to win. I hope it will be a very good match,” said Chand.

“As the board president or my cricket board, not just me, but all 30 million people of Nepal are happy with their performance. They played good cricket in the World Cup, but everyone wants to see our team win. Maybe it didn't happen now. However, everyone wants to at least win against Bangladesh. Our final goal is to return home with a win.”

Not only random Nepal fan, political figures of the Nepal government wore Nepali cricket team jerseys to show support for the national team. It was the first time that parliamentarians have appeared in the parliament wearing sportswear. It happened before Nepal vs Netherlands. Chand stated that this is the biggest achievement for Nepal’s cricket.

“This is the biggest achievement for Nepal because the government, the Prime Minister, and political figures are wearing jerseys and cheering for Nepal. This is very good for Nepal cricket. You may have seen that 90 percent of the crowd in Dallas was Nepal supporters, who came wearing jerseys to support us,”

The Nepali American community is the fastest growing Asian population in the United States as the president said “Our supporters have provided us with tremendous support in the United States. This is the future of Nepal cricket. Another thing, personally, I feel that the United States is a second venue for Nepal. This is a good thing for Nepal.”

Nepal, an associate country of ICC, could only play with the Test playing countries in the global events but CAN president urged to play bilateral series against their neighbor countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Chand revealed that he had sent letters to Bangladesh’s board several times asking why they don't send their U-18, U-19 teams to Nepal or play international T20 and ODI series.

“Bangladesh is our neighboring country. We have a good relationship with them. I have sent letters to their board several times asking why they don't send their U-18, U-19 teams here or play international T20 and ODI series. Look, teams like England play against the Netherlands and Scotland. Why don't they play against us even though they are our neighbors? Not just Bangladesh, I would also talk about India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. If they want to see the improvement of Nepal cricket, they should play with us regularly. We request them to play with us. Then Nepal will become a better team,”

“We now have a good team management, where the head coach is from India. After the World Cup, we will discuss these matters and make decisions. Then we will invite experts from Test-playing countries like Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

“I haven't spoken directly with the board president. However, we had a conversation with a former captain of Bangladesh when he came to Kathmandu. He is handling the U-19 team. We discussed the plan then. We talked about having at least one bilateral series a year” he added.