HYDERABAD: Given their encouraging show in the past one-and-a-half years, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) wanted the men's cricket team to have the best training and preparations for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.
But funds were the issue, as supporting the team financially for exposure trips especially to the Caribbean Islands and America was out of their reach. That is when the CAN office-bearers drafted a proposal and sent it to the Nepal government seeking financial assistance.
They were fortunate, as the government, for the first time, agreed to support the team financially and sanctioned NPR 5 crore. The trust shown by the government made the CAN to organise various trips for the team ahead of the marquee event. They also invited West Indies A team to Nepal and undertook a tour to Vapi, Gujarat, where the players had a triangular series with domestic teams from the state.
The support also gave them freedom to hire foreign coaches, as former Barbados pacer Roddy Estwick was appointed as the team's bowling consultant and ex-Maharashtra player Nandan Phadnis joined the support staff as the batting coach. They also hired Abdul Sattar from India as the trainer. With noted coach from India Monty Desai serving as the head coach since last year, Nepal now have an eight-member support staff.
"The boys did their job by qualifying for the T20 World Cup and it was our turn to give them the best support possible. It was very encouraging from the government's side as it sanctioned the requested fund," Chatur Bahadur Chand, president of CAN, told this daily.
After initial preparations in India and playing against West Indies A in their backyard, the players along with the support staff flew to Florida, where they had a few warm-up games apart from usual training from May 5 to 12. "The 25-day tour ahead of the event is aimed at acclimatisation of players and their training. After Florida, the boys flew to St Vincent.
The team played a match there on Tuesday and won it. They will have two more matches at the place before they fly back to Houston, where the CAN has hired a facility for training of the team. The team will train and play more matches at the venue till May 25 before joining other teams at Dallas as the warm-up games for the T20 World Cup will begin," added the CAN president.
Nepal will begin their campaign in the event against Netherlands on June 4 in Dallas. They will take on Sri Lanka and South Africa on June 12 and 15, respectively. The first match will be at Florida, while the second one will be hosted at St Vincent. The same venue will host them a couple of days later, with Bangladesh being their opponents.
Nepal competed at the 2014 T20 World Cup, registering remarkable victories over Afghanistan and Hong Kong. They might have remained suspended for almost three years from 2016 to 2019 but since then they have made giant strides towards becoming a formidable cricketing nation.
They featured in the 2023 Asia Cup and earned a spot in the ODI World Cup Qualifier in the same year by winning 11 out of 12 remaining matches.
All this was achieved without financial assistance from the government. One can expect them to go a step further and make their presence felt when the T20 World Cup starts. For this time, the Nepal cricketers have the backing of their government as well.
