Nepali cricket has hit a plateau. From the euphoria of a maiden qualification to the 2014 ICC World Twenty20  Championship to the excitement of joining the ranks of non-Test playing elites, Nepali cricket now has taken a sabbatical from success. Much of that success was owed to Pubudu Dassanayake, Nepal’s coach during its golden era. Now that he is gone, getting Nepal back on track will prove an exceedingly difficult challenge.

Not long ago, Nepali masses were captivated by the national cricket team’s progress in world cricket, winning back-to-back titles and improving with each outing in the last four years. But within a short span of time, the game has hit a new low, courtesy of on and off-field shortcomings.

Moments after the national cricket team returned from their recent tour of the United Arab Emirates, where they suffered  consecutive losses in their World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) matches against Papua New Guinea, Dassanayake opined that Nepali cricket is ‘stuck’.

Except for their Division 3 title triumph, that laid the foundation for a spot in the WCLC, Nepal has failed at crucial moments in the tournaments they have played in after their World Twenty20 qualification. They finished a disappointing ninth in the 50-over World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand last year, losing out on the opportunity to attain one-day international status.

While the first-round exit from the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in Ireland hurt them the most, the team were also disappointed in not winning a single game in the first two rounds (four matches) of the WCLC. In between, they finished third in the ACC Premier League, a tournament they entered as the defending champions.

After having reached heady heights, of competing with the best in the world, the recent lows have come as a blow. The achievements of the recent past were orchestrated by Dassanayake and accompanied by perfect execution by a team that was fully behind him. But it was not only the on-field plans that were fetching results for Nepal, the Sri Lanka-born Canadian coach established a cricket culture that the country had never seen before. The atmosphere it brought with it had every cricketer and fan excited.

But as Dassanayake heads back after completing his four-year tenure, mixed with success and controversies, he throws down the gauntlet at the cricket administration, one last time, calling for a reform in the domestic cricketing structure. A call he had repeated throughout his stay.

A fading golden era

Dassanayake meant business from the word go. Soon after watching the team on his first assignment (ACC Twenty20 Cup) in Kathmandu, where the team finished fourth, he came up with plans he believed would change the fortunes of the game. And change it did. Within two years the Nepali cricket team had achieved World Twenty20 qualification.

“We talked of competing in the World Cup, but didn’t know how we were going to get there (in World Cup). He (Dassanayake) showed us the way,” skipper Paras Khadka repeatedly credits his former coach. One of Dassanayake’s plans for qualifying to the big stage was providing international exposure to some of his players and letting them play with freedom.

“Before Dassanayake, we used to compete with the fear of losing matches. But his arrival opened the opportunity to express ourselves. We started developing a hunger inside us. A hunger to win every game. A lot of the credit goes to him for changing that mind set,” Binod Das, the former skipper who retired in August this year, said.

Dassanayake succeeded in some of his plans—establishment of National Cricket Academy (NCA) and the exposure given to home-grown players were two of them.

At Nepal’s only international standard cricket stadium at the Tribhuvan University, Dassanayake created an exciting atmosphere and established Nepal as one of the most active non-Test playing nations in world cricket. He repeatedly called on talented young cricketers to join the national team camp. The huge turnout of kids for NCA programmes became the platform for success.

With Dassanayake now gone, the excitement cricket had brought to the Nepali population has fizzled out as well. The question of whether his successor and cricket’s governing body can build on the culture he helped foster remains.

The way ahead

Nepal’s senior cricket has come a long way in the last four years. A country that once languished in Division 4—the fourth rung among the non-Test playing nations—is now playing in the WCLC, a 50-over home and away tournament between the top Associate teams, that serves as the gateway to 2019 50-over World Cup.

Nepal’s cricket stands at a level that demands improved performance on-field and equally sound management off it. The fact that Nepal failed to win three of their last four WCLC matches is a proof that an under-prepared team without competitive match exposure cannot keep stride with a fast-evolving world of cricket.

Since Nepal first stepped into the international arena, through the 1996 ACC Trophy, it has largely been dependent on a single tournament in each age group every year. But times have changed. Being a team that plays against top Associate teams, it requires at least a six-month long domestic schedule in multiple formats for the players to get enough opportunity to maintain their form. The biggest problem Nepali cricket currently faces is the replacement of sport’s golden generation that scaled such dizzying heights. The cricket administration has few answers about replacing, let alone replicating, that generation.

It perhaps is time for Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to work on the concept of a second-string national squad (Nepal ‘A’ team) which is involved in round-the-year training and domestic leagues in Test countries. CAN needs to make the most of Nepal’s proximity with Test giants India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and an improving Bangladesh.

Even now, three years after NCA’s establishment, except for a few weekly or seasonal programmes, the central academy of Nepali cricket has not been able to find its stride. With synchronised expansion across the country, the NCA must target facilitating at least 10,000 aspiring young cricketers. Fielding a NCA team in different age-group tournaments would be the best way to provide early exposure to the youth.

Das believes that Nepali cricket can implement the plans that Dassanayake prepared. “To sustain at that level, we need to work on our infrastructure, system, and management. Everything has to come together to put up a fight at that level. We are at the bottom of WCLC and it is the kind of competition where skills alone will not make any difference. We hope our stakeholders realise it,” he said.

“Dassanayake’s replacement needs to give continuity to the things that he has left behind. Apart from the administration, we are also struggling in terms of player management. Once we play one round of WCLC, we have a three-month gap and there need to be a shift in focus on how we manage the players during the hiatus,” he said.

A faltering administration

In sharp contrast, the performance of the cricket’s governing body is no match to the achievements of the cricketers. The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s supreme body, recently sent a letter showing dissatisfaction over the way CAN is running cricket in the country. Some stakeholders argue that it’s not running at all.

CAN has not organised a single tournament in the last year, nor has it showed the willingness to work on the professional development of the game. With the achievements of the senior national team, the government has been offering help in terms of infrastructure and players’ development.CAN, however, doesn’t seem to be aware of such offers.

It shall not come as a surprise if ICC suspends the current governing committee of  CAN, which has been plagued by infighting and incompetence. On November 6, the Special Court gave a clean chit to 10 of its officials, including the president, vice-president and general secretary, clearing them of corruption charges.

The clean chit from the Court opened doors for the officials to move ahead with the development of the game. But instead of burying the hatchet, they are divided over different issues—holding elections being one of them. Yet, if cricket is to get back on track, a clean and operational governing body is essential.

A fitting tribute

In a country with limited sporting achievements to treasure, the national cricket team’s success under Dassanayake, had brought  hope to the entire nation. Yet now, as the coach who heralded the golden era of Nepali cricket departs, the biggest tribute to his legacy, will be to build on the foundations laid in his tenure.