The Cricket Association of Nepal, the apex body for the game of cricket in the country, has always attracted the limelight for the wrong reasons.
They continue to be rocked by unnecessary and avoidable controversies, scandals, internal wrangling and infighting.
Once again, cracks have emerged in the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). Seven central committee members had called for CAN President Chatur Bahadur Chand, Executive secretary Prashant Bikram Malla, Treasurer Durga Raj Pathak and Padam Khadkato to resign over the Nepal T20 Cricket league fiasco and spot-fixing scandal recently.
The dissident group bemoaned leadership failure at all levels and held them accountable for the disastrous tournament and joining hands with the Indian company Seven3Sports to manage the league.
As we are all aware, the competition ended in utter chaos, drawing scathing criticisms from all quarters. Clearly what transpired indicates the leadership weakness, lack of oversight and mismanagement.
There is nothing new about this. I am not a bit surprised. As a matter of fact, it is well known, and cricket aficionados in the country have grown accustomed to it.
For decades the cricket body has been dogged by weak leadership, poor governance practices, incompetent executives, pitiful management, and infighting between different groups and individuals.
Lack of honesty, commitment, professionalism, accountability, transparency and integrity on the part of the CAN is hurting Nepal cricket.
It may be recalled that Nepal was suspended by the ICC for government interference, and lack of free and fair elections in 2016 before it was lifted in 2019.
Despite the lifting of the suspension, the snail- pace development has left the cricket fraternity in the country frustrated. All in all, Nepal cricket is in a sorry state with no end in sight.
CAN under Chand’s presidency has been marked by failures, missteps, blunders and bad governance over the last five years.
These so-called cricket executives give priority to their personal interests rather than responsibilities. All they care about is clinging to their positions regardless. It is a case of greed and misuse of power.
Every new year is just another year. Nothing has changed. Old issues and problems continue to exist.
Chand continues to shamelessly defend his administration’s policies and programs. He admitted having made a few mistakes in a press meet recently.
He rebuffed calls for his resignation from the dissident group and ridiculously maintained that they were focused and committed to the all-round development of cricket.
Obviously, it is a plain lie. All we have witnessed is the stagnation of Nepal cricket. CAN is at its most incompetent. The staggering mishandling of the Nepal Twenty20 league further proved it.
CAN’s decision to lift the suspension of rape accused Sandeep Lamichhane and include him in the national team for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 home Tri-series against Namibia and Scotland, despite public outcry, was/is a big mistake.
Lamichhane, who is on bail, could be a huge distraction for the team going into the upcoming Tri-series.
CAN has been caught on the wrong foot by selecting Lamichhane for the team for the umpteenth time. Will they ever learn from their mistakes? Given this administration, I very much doubt it.
