After a dedicated meeting with Cricket Association of Nepal(CAN)’s representatives the High Level Political Committee has requested the government to provide Citizenship to Sharad Vesawkar. “The committee has decided to push for his citizenship” explained Raghuji Panta.
CAN decided to push for his citizenship as CAN has plans of making Machine Readable Passports(MRP) for the players, and it would be impossible to issue one for Sharad if he is not a Nepalese Citizen(and without a Nepali Citizenship, ironically he is not). Without a citizenship there would be problem not just in issuing new MRP but also renewing the old one.
Sharad Vesawkar, who has represented Nepal right from Under-15 level to national cricket team, does not have a citizenship of Nepal. He travels abroad with a minor’s Passport that was issued to him as a kid.
Sharad was born to Indian Father and Nepali Mother in UAE but he has been living in Nepal for last 18 years.
Vesawkar has always been important member of Nepali Squad ever since his debut in 2004.After every successful tournament Sharad(and the National Cricket Team) would receive assurances and promises from all around about providing Sharad with rightful citizenship, however assurances and promises is all that Sharad got.
In 2010 a delegation of Cricketers even met the then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and all they got were handful of promises. The most recent of such promises came from UCP-Maoist Leader Baburam Bhattarai who promised “try his best to get him citizenship” during Moaist’s felicitation program after Nepal’s Division 3 Victory.
Vesawkar role has been pivotal in Nepali Cricket. His century against Fiji, third by any Nepalese batsmen was detrimental in Nepal’s Division 5 victory. He played a steady hand with a half century in final against Uganda to give Nepal the Division 3 crown.
Nepali Cricket Team is set to play two world cup qualifiers in next 4 months and Vesawkar would be one of the most important players. Vesawkar, Nepali Team and Nepali Cricket Fans have put lot of effort on Sharad’s citizenship so the citizenship (if he gets it) would come as a huge morale booster for Nepali Cricket Team, especially Vesawkar just ahead of the big tournaments.
