Nepal takes guard on world stage after years of playing in the nets Within days of the World T20 tickets going on sale, Nepal’s opening game was sold out. Every time Nepal takes the field in the coming days in Bangladesh, their politicians will wear the team colours to parliament. Players from Nepal might be brushing shoulders with the game’s top stars for the first time but the Himalayan nation’s love affair with cricket did not happen overnight. Nepal’s captain Paras Khadka, who has been part of the national side since 2004, believes the team will take inspiration from the heroes’ welcome it received on arrival in Katmandu after qualifying for the World T20. “We have an amazing number of fans back home. The fan-following, especially after we qualified for the World T20, matches up to any Test-playing nation’s,” Khadka said. This is the second instance when cricket in Nepal has taken centrestage. “When we played in the Under-19 World Cup in 2000, the nation was behind us. We rubbed shoulders with the Mohammad Kaif-led India side that included Yuvraj Singh. But we lost our way again as one of our main sponsors (an Indian media company) pulled out after promoting the game for a couple of years. But now, after qualifying for the World T20, we have regained lost ground,” said former Nepal player Aamir Akhtar, who was part of the Under-19 squad of 2000.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 10:10:05 +0000
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