Nepal captain Paras Khadka
strode into the press conference room at a Dhaka hotel impressively. He
stressed how Nepal have been working for more than a decade to get to
this level, and not just to play in this edition of the World T20. They
are among six teams to have made it to the first round of the World T20
from the Qualifier tournament held in the UAE last November.
"I think we are here to present Nepal cricket in front of the whole
world," Khadka said. "It is a great opportunity for us. It is not like
we have only qualified for this tournament and worked for three months.
We have been playing for 10-12 years with hard work and playing
continuous cricket. We are here to compete and play to the best of our
ability. If we play to our potential, things should be good for us."
Khadka said that Nepal's participation in the tournament will boost
cricket in the country, as the government has already taken interest. "I
think we have been playing cricket since 1996. We have been part of the
ACC (Asian Cricket Council) since then. CAN (Cricket Association of
Nepal) is one of the oldest sporting associations back home. We are
getting there.
"Football and cricket are the two most popular sports. Everybody follows
us. Kids love the game. The game is really growing big time. It is very
exciting. We have an amazing fan following back home. The number of
cricket fans that we have matches any Test-playing country.
"For most people, Nepal came as a huge surprise to be playing at this
level. This will be a breakthrough for the country itself. Once we
qualified for the World Cup, the government is very keen to find out how
to develop cricket further. I hope we can move forward from here."
Nepal shot to fame in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka where
they became Plate champions, and Khadka said the senior team is now
following up on the younger batch's impressive showing in that
tournament over the years.
"There was always the criticism that we only do well at the U-19 level.
But the national team is doing well in the last two years. You need the
junior structure as well. What we need is a basic structure back home."
After Khadka, Rahul Vishwakarma
said how he, like all his team-mates, had aspired to reach this stage
since childhood. He met one of his heroes, Shakib Al Hasan, but didn't
get a chance to talk to him. Like Shakib, he is a left-arm spinner and
left-hand batsman and doesn't lack the confidence too.