KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 6

The national team cricketers today received a heroes' welcome at the Tribhuvan International Airport upon their arrival from Sri Lanka after taking part in the Asia Cup.

Nepal played against the world cricket's heavyweights India and Pakistan in their maiden appearance in the Asia Cup and the players from the tiny associate nation put up a brilliant show in the tournament.

Although they lost both the matches and crashed out of the group stage, the cricketers played two dream matches and left their mark in international cricket's biggest stage outside International Cricket Council's events.

Nepal conceded 342 runs in the tournament opener - their first outing against the world No 1 team, Pakistan but they were in total control for more than 35 overs before skipper Babar Azam - the world No 1 ODI batsman - and Iftikar Ahmed took the match away from them with late onslaught. Nepali batters could not read the pace of Pakistan bowlers, probably fastest in the world, and were dismissed for 103 runs facing a massive 238-run defeat.

Playing for the first time in 27 years since making an international appearance in 1996, Nepal put up a spirited show against India, especially in batting.

Nepal managed to score an impressive 230-odd runs against the star-studded side.

Karan KC then troubled India skipper Rohit Sharma in the first over and Nepal also sniffed a victory at one stage after India were handed a revised target of 145 runs from 23 overs in the rain-hit match. But Sharma and his opening partner Shubman Gill dashed Nepal's upset with a 10-wicket victory.

Nepal lost both matches heavily but fans across the globe celebrated their maiden Asia Cup appearance and the games against India and Pakistan.

The youthful Nepali squad represented the generation of Nepali cricket that fulfilled their dreams of playing against the world cricket's heavyweights. The cricketers received a rapturous welcome at the TIA with thousands of fans gathering at the arrival to get a glance of the national heroes.

Skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel was emotional and also short of words in describing the experience of the matches. 'Playing against India and Pakistan was always a dream and we are extremely happy to get the opportunity,' said Paudel. 'We bowled very well against the world's best batters in the match against Pakistan and our openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh gave us a dream start against India. We could have done a bit better in the middle order but we are satisfied with the overall performance of the team.'

'This year has been great for Nepali cricket. We have made a great achievement, thanks to the hard work from all the players, coaches and stakeholders,' he said. 'The credit of all these achievements goes to senior players who earned the ODI status guiding the team from ICC World Cricket League Division-V. We got the chance of playing ODI matches when we came into the sport. And the current breed of players has put up their best efforts for the last couple of years,' he said.

Paudel said the team was geared up to go for a win after India got a revised target of 145 runs from 23 overs after a rain delay. 'Obviously the team was positive as anything can happen in T20. The way Karan KC was bowling, we had a feeling of getting a couple of early wickets and putting pressure on them. But Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill played brilliant knocks,' he said.

Asked about the meeting with Indian cricketers including Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Surya Kumar Yadav and coach Rahul Dravid, Nepal skipper Paudel said the team members got to learn a lot from them. 'We watched them playing on TV and meeting them personally was a huge experience for us,' he said.

Paudel urged the government and all stakeholders to support cricket. 'It's high time to get into action rather than making hollow promises,' he said. 'We just have a single stadium and we all are forced to prepare on a single pitch at TU Stadium. We also do not have proper domestic structure.'

A version of this article appears in the print on September 07, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.