Nepal players look to invoke ‘spirit of the climber’

CHENNAI: At the heart of the majestic Himalayas, Nepali Sherpas are famed for guiding climbers through impossible heights. Their stories and feats have become the stuff of legend. The landlocked nation, cradled among the world’s highest peaks and long regarded as a buffer state, has steadily been growing in stature in the cricketing world.Nepal’s rise in cricket has been remarkable for an associate nation. The team has built a passionate fan following and will now make their second successive appearance at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Most recently, they achieved a historic milestone by defeating a Test-playing nation, the West Indies, in a T20I series. Nepal’s young captain Rohit Paudel lit up with a proud smile at the mention of his country’s iconic Sherpa legacy and was quick to express that the team is determined to channel that same enduring spirit of a ‘climber' to conquer the towering challenge of this T20 World Cup. They are placed in a demanding Group C alongside England, West Indies, Italy, and Scotland.“We have always been hearing those stories of Sherpas, all of whom belong to Nepal. Whenever we step on the ground, we are representing our country. Sherpas and others like them are part of our history, and we play with that in mind. Just like in climbing, in cricket also we have to stay calm and composed,” said the 23-year-old Rohit, who is part of the Nepali Armed Police Force.But how did Nepal cricket’s transformation come about? Rohit, who has been the face of Nepal cricket, pointed to a clear turning point from 2023 onward. The all-rounder emphasised how the core group of around 9 to 10 players, who have trained and bonded together over the past decade, has finally seen their years of hard work pay off.“From 2023, things started changing for Nepal cricket, and I think from that year we’ve been playing good, competitive cricket. The hard work that we put in from 2015-19 began to show post 2023. We’ve played a lot of matches against Test-playing countries now, and now we are going to play our second consecutive World Cup. So I think as a group, we know each other very well.“And each and every player wants to improve each day and do better for Nepal. That is the one goal that drives all of us to do better for Nepal,” said the solid top-order batter.The surge in the sport’s popularity has created an electric atmosphere both back home and abroad. During the last T20 World Cup in 2024, Nepal fans turned out in massive numbers in the US and painted the Dallas stadium into a sea of red and blue. There is huge excitement back in Nepal as well, so much so that Rohit finds it hard to walk the streets of Kathmandu without drawing crowds.With a large Nepali expat community in India, especially around Mumbai, a big turnout is expected at Wankhede, with fans ready to cheer their team on in full force.Rohit acknowledged the pressure that comes with such love but said the team embraces it and wants to perform even better for their supporters.Former Australian batter Stuart Law, who is the head coach of the Nepal team said the Nepal team is battle-hardened and will try to put its best foot forward.“Yes, it’s a step up going to a World Cup and playing against two-time world champion England in the first game. But these guys are pretty good and intelligent cricketers. Our goal is not just to be one of the teams that turn up and play. The goal is to play the best cricket we can at every opportunity. We aim to be aggressive in the way we think, but without recklessness,” said Law.