When Sompal Kami walloped a Anrich Nortje delivery in the penultimate over out of the ground, Gyanendra Malla, a former Nepalese player and coach, beamed a smile. It wasn’t just for the quality or audaciousness of the shot under pressure, but for what it symbolised.
In April 2016, the ICC had suspended the Nepal cricket association citing the dual existence of the cricket governing body in Nepal and government interference in the election. Things spiralled out of control in terms of infrastructure, finances, running of domestic cricket and even something as small as a cricket bat.
“Without money during that suspension, we couldn’t afford the high-range bats, we had this massive disadvantage. We used to get caught at boundary ropes and in the dressing room, we used to think we didn’t have enough power but later we realised the problem was the bat. When Kami hit that 105m six against Nortje, it put a smile on my face,” Malla tells The Indian Express. Despite the hardships, the smiles have never left the faces of the passionate Nepalese fans in all these years.
In 2023, visuals of fans in a Nepal stadium went viral around the cricketing world. Thousands were huddled together, some under umbrellas, others getting drenched but no one left even as rain poured for a while. It was a game against UAE, and the winner would qualify for that year’s Asia Cup, and Nepal won.
Rain would hit the team and the fans again now in Dallas as their game against the Sri Lanka in the 2024 T20 world cup was washed out. Yet again, 5500 Nepalese fans stayed put, cheering their team despite no cricket. It was an atmosphere that the ICC had hoped for India-Pakistan game, but found it an abandoned match elsewhere.
Umesh Patwal, who was the head coach of Nepal in 2016 when the cricket association was banned, isn’t surprised at the reactions of the fans. He talks about the horrid phase after 2014 when the game’s administration turned pear shaped. Just when the cricketing world had thought Nepal, who had qualified for the T20 world cup in Bangladesh in 2014, was going to step up, things turned dire. But not the players and the fans.
“The dressing room of Kirtipur Cricket Stadium was quite something, boss! No electricity, no water in the toilet. But these boys had a different commitment towards the game. Even the infrastructure of Afghanistan was better, when I was with them in 2011,” Patwal says.
“Once we were travelling to Dubai and I noticed at the Kathmandu airport that not all players had proper backpacks. They were carrying the torn ones. Once we reached Dubai, I bought a few for them, and then I found out that left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi didn’t even have a bat.”
Patwal cues up details about how the players would save up money on tours. ”In the ICC events like the World Cup qualifiers that used to be held in Zimbabwe or in the UAE, they used to get money in dollars. They used to save it as if their life depended on it. It was a big deal for them. They would not spend a single penny on anything.
“In the ICC events, you don’t have to worry about anything, from sandwiches to cups of coffee everything is taken care of, they used to love it. Hard work and honesty. They worship the game and now it is God’s way of giving them back,” he says.
More tales from that phase spills out. Like their accommodation in Nepal. ”You would have been amazed to see the hotel in which we stayed in Kirtipur. The association didn’t pay them for almost a year. The owner of the hotel was so kind that he took care of all the cricketers just for the love for the passion he had for the game,” says Patwal.
Youbraj Shrestha, who is the owner of the Hotel Crowne Plaza in Kirtipur says someday he wants to host Test cricketers in his hotel.
“For me money is secondary. I love cricket, I love my country and I didn’t even care about the fact that I was not paid for two years. I knew these boys were special. Look at them now. I am a good businessman” laughs Shrestha.
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Paras Khadka, the legendary captain, Gyanendra Malla and Sharad Vesawkar are generally considered the three pillars of Nepal cricket. The trio set a goal that Nepal should play Test cricket one day and they were the men who steered Nepal cricket out of the crisis.
“These three people rebuilt Nepal cricket,” says Patwal. “Sharad always backed the youngsters, Paras was like an elder brother or a fatherly figure in the team. Gyanendra was the commander. The three forged a beautiful partnership and now Nepal cricket is reaping the rewards.”
It was relatively easy to chart a roadmap but the lack of infrastructure and cricketing kits and financial restraints had almost left the legendary troika to quit backing the sport.
“There were certain times that I wanted to quit cricket and go abroad. I guess I was destined to stay in Nepal and work for Nepal cricket,” recalls Paras Khadka, who Umesh Patwal compares with MS Dhoni when it comes to popularity.
Malla recollects how his family laughed at him when he first received the match fees in 2006.
“When we started in 2005-06, the allowances were 25 Nepalese Rupees. It was the same till 2011. Somehow we managed. There was no
facility. There was no infrastructure. The only thing we had was our passion. We wanted to play in the World Cup,” Malla says.
The two-year suspension in 2016 hit the progress of cricket, says Malla. “We used to depend on ICC and ACC daily allowances. After the 2014 World Cup, the salary system had started. Then the board got suspended and we got nothing for two years.”
Khadka hopes to build a robust cricketing infrastructure in Nepal and wants to see the Nepalese boys playing Test cricket.
“We made a career out of that 25 rupee structure. Passion is the only thing that drives us. We want cricket to grow to another level. The universe has its own way of looking after things. Maybe because of this we have taken everyone by surprise. We have got some miraculous results because of the team’s honest determination. We have one goal and one idea. We knew that if we were to make any form of noise, we would have to play well. We have made that noise,” Khadka says.
“It took us ten years to reach another World Cup after the 2014 T20 tournament in Bangladesh. The goal now is to play the ICC events regularly. The goal is to become a full member for sure like Ireland and Afghanistan. We want to set up a better grassroots and domestic structure, and find a way to climb Mount Everest without any hiccups.” With the support of possibly the most passionate fans in the cricketing world, and an organic pool of home-grown talent, that day isn’t hopefully too far ahead.