Nepal have a huge task of maintaining if not elevating the new-found elite status in cricket even as the team only recently made their One Day International (ODI) debut with a two-match ODI series against the Netherlands.

Nepal lost the first ODI on August 1 and won the second against the hosts two days later to square their first ever bilateral ODI series since earning the coveted status by virtue of finishing eighth in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Harare in March.

The status offered Nepal—at least in theory—a chance to rub shoulders against the likes of world cricket powerhouses like India, Australia, South Africa or Pakistan. Nepal’s rise to the 16-team ODI rank is remarkable considering that they only started ICC World Cricket League (WCL) at the bottom of the qualifying structure in 2008—the Division 5. What makes the achievement all the more astonishing is that, the nation is without a recognised governing body since 2016. The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) citing government interference and infighting. The move meant the absence of domestic cricket, and ever since the ICC has been overseeing Nepal’s international participation. 

Source: Kathmandu Post

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