The West Indies A edged out hosts Nepal to win the Twenty20 five match series in Kathmandu recently .
Despite losing the opener, the visitors bounced back strongly to win three straight games to seal the series 3-2.
The home team got off to a dream start by winning the opening match in front of a massive boisterous partisan crowd.
They turned in a strong collective effort, combining consistent bowling and batting performance to stun the opposition in the first game.
At that point, things looked promising for the local outfit and it seemed as though they stood a good chance to win the series against a relatively formidable opponent.
However, their performances did not go in line with expectations. They failed to capitalize on the good start as they struggled, especially with the bat and went on a three-game losing streak.
The successive defeats put a damper on their hopes of winning the series much to the disappointment of the expectant home crowd.
They capped off the competition with a win in the final game helping them narrow the deficit to 2-3 in the series.
The team’s overall performance could have been much better with robust batting without a doubt.
The series marked an end to Team Nepal’s hectic schedule giving players the much needed breathing space.
The build-up to the 2024 Twenty20 World Cup taking place in the West Indies and the United States has been intense but productive for the team.
To be fair, overall the team’s preparation for the premier tournament has been satisfactory.
Currently Team Nepal is in training camp in Florida preparing for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
On May 12th they leave for St.Vincent, West Indies for the final leg of the training and venue for their World Cup opener against the Netherlands on June 4th.
In between they have a series of practice matches lined up in St.Vincent and Houston, Texas. It is hoped that they make the most of their hectic schedule.
Since Head Coach Monty Desai took over the national team, he has committed to building a winning team culture.
Although the team has made encouraging strides under him, they still have a long way to go before they can elevate themselves from a position of pretenders to contenders in international cricket.
More importantly, it warrants good governance and significant investment on the part of Cricket Association of Nepal(CAN) to deal with the short and long-term challenges.
There is no hiding the fact that dismal and inconsistent batting continues to plague the team.
Going by their recent performances, the batters struggled to build partnerships, post competitive totals and came up short in run chases.
Clearly they lacked confidence, match temperament, discipline and ability to play under pressure. To add, they were exposed technically at times.
Skipper Rohit Paudel was the lone batter, who rose to the occasion and excelled. He was at the top of his game and batted consistently throughout.
It is imperative that batters learn from their mistakes and develop strategies to improve batting performance to succeed.
The onus is on frontline batters to step up, improve their performance and turn things around to make an impression in the T20’s biggest platform.
Having served as the batting coach for the West Indies national team in 2019, Desai faces challenges to remedy the batting flaws undoubtedly.
The bowlers have been performing consistently all along, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Given the enormity of the challenge, they have to bring out the absolute best.
In the end, the value of teamwork and collective individual brilliance matters and will make a world of difference when it comes to performance and results.
