Women’s cricket team sets sights on T20 World Cup qualification

By Prajit Shakya,Kathmandu, Oct. 12: The Nepali women's cricket team is dreaming of making history by qualifying for the T20 Women's World Cup Global Qualifier in three months. This will be the first time Nepal has played in the Global Qualifier for the Women’s T20 World Cup. Nepal made history last month by securing a place in the Global Qualifier after qualifying for the Asia Qualifier held in Thailand.

The Global Qualifying tournament will be held in Nepal, making it a realistic goal for the Nepali women's cricket team to play in the World Cup for the first time. In preparation for this, the Nepal women’s cricket team has already begun its training. As part of their build-up, Nepal participated in a five-match T20 series against Malaysia and made a positive start, winning 3-2 on Malaysian soil.

When the Nepali women’s team returned home late on Thursday night with the trophy, all attention turned towards the Global Qualifier. Coach Manoj Katuwal expressed that the series against Malaysia had been valuable, but his primary focus is on the upcoming Global Qualifier. He said, "If we want to progress in the World Cup global qualifiers, we need to improve in all three areas of cricket: batting, bowling, and fielding. Apart from Indu, Rubina, and Pooja, everyone else needs to work on their batting. I am also not satisfied with the bowling performance. I feel we have not been consistent with our line and length. We also need to focus more on fitness. A well-thought-out plan is crucial to moving forward towards the World Cup."

He added, "It would be better if we could play a series against a team that challenges us, rather than one we can easily defeat. Preparations are already underway in India, and we expect the tour to be beneficial. Playing the global qualifiers at home is an advantage for us. I believe we can perform well in the tri-nation series with the Netherlands and Thailand, as we showed promising results when playing at home."

Alongside Nepal, the teams participating in the Global Qualifiers include Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Thailand, the United States, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Namibia, and Papua New Guinea. The top four teams from this tournament will qualify for the next edition of the T20 Women’s World Cup.

Nepal’s captain, Indu Verma, also acknowledged some shortcomings in fielding and fitness during the series against Malaysia. "We must address these issues before the Global Qualifier," she said. "There was a long gap between the Asian Qualifiers and our competitive matches in Malaysia, so the tour was beneficial for us. The upcoming tour of India for the Global Qualifier will provide further exposure for the players."

Indu, who became the first Nepali player to reach 1,000 runs in a match against Malaysia, added that this milestone would inspire others, particularly as there are few international matches in women’s cricket.

Six Nepali women cricketers are set to participate in the MCA Women's Interstate T20 Championship in Malaysia. According to the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), Sita Rana Magar, Kabita Joshi, Rajmati Airi, Rubina Chhetri, Pooja Mahato, and Kabita Kunwar will compete in the tournament, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 18 to 28. The event is organised by the Malaysian Cricket Association.

Sita, Kabita Joshi, and Rajmati have joined the Selangor Cricket Association, while Rubina, Pooja, and Kabita Kunwar have teamed up with the Sarawak Cricket Association. Some of the players did not return to Nepal with the team on Thursday night as they are scheduled to participate in the tournament. Earlier, the Nepali women’s team also took part in the Super Women’s Series in Malaysia, where all the players competed for five different teams.