Nepal players told to focus on cricket

Nepal head coach Stuart Law on Saturday expressed disappointment over the team’s 10-wicket defeat to debutants Italy, saying players had “not shown commitment” while also telling the squad to ignore the “nonsense” on social media and concentrate fully on the challenges ahead in the T20 World Cup. Nepal, who had lit up the tournament with a spirited performance that nearly toppled two-time champions England in a high-scoring thriller here last Sunday, failed to build on that momentum and slumped to a tame defeat against Italy when expectations were high for them to raise the bar further.

Former Australian cricketer Stuart Law said he fully understood the importance of social media in the players’ lives, but stressed that during a major tournament it can become a significant distraction from their primary focus on performance. “Social media is a massive part of the Nepalese culture,” Law told reporters when asked what steps he had taken to ensure dressing-room discussions translated into on-field performances, especially after the contrasting nature of Nepal’s first two outings.

“If we’re focusing on what we’re doing on social media, (or) on what people are saying about us on social media, and not focusing about what the team needs (or even) what the teammates are saying, and (what) the game requires, you’re distracted from your actual job,” said Law. “I’m trying to strike a happy medium with the players so (as to) make sure they’re focused on their cricket, number one, and the rest of the nonsense that I call it. “It’s a difficult one (call) because I know a lot of players rely on it to gain endorsements and sponsorship, etc. But I also think that the World Cup cricketers — I’ve tried to explain to them — that if we keep winning games at cricket, your likes will go up anyway,” he said.

Law said he has made it clear to the players that strong performances in the World Cup will naturally lead to a rise in followers, without them having to chase it off the field. “You don’t have to keep showing your face. If you show that cricket in Nepal is going forward and we’re winning games at cricket, your attraction on social media will go through the roof,” Law said, revealing his message to the players.

“I’ve said that to the boys today, get that away from cricket. Do it away from cricket. When you’re at cricket, do your cricket. Maybe the distraction from the heist of nearly beating England, and the people from around the world at cricket (including) the greats of the game... (all) that is nice to hear, but you’ve still got to remember we lost,” Law said. Law said not focussing on cricket despite a crushing defeat to Italy was another sign of “not showing commitment to your team”.

“To go from that high (against England) to then go to the extreme low four days later, that’s not showing mental toughness,” he said. “That’s not showing commitment to your team, to your country, to your family, et cetera, to your teammates. We need to make sure that we understand that we need to do that better.” Law said Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel had a stomach-related issue but should be fine for the match on Sunday. “There’s been a bit of fever going around the World Cup, some stomach issues, etc. But he had a fever last night. He took medicine. He should be fine for tomorrow (Sunday),” Law said.

West Indies’ Akeal Hosein, meanwhile, did not read much into his team having two identical bowlers in a playing eleven. “When it comes to T20 cricket, it’s about what role you are playing. Not so much what you bowl, but where you bowl in this format,” he said. Hosein said it was irrelevant that the West Indies came into the T20 World Cup with a string of defeats, pointing at “a couple of teams” who are struggling to figure out their best combination.

“Yeah, we came into this World Cup with a couple of defeats but it is also about peaking at the right time,” he said. “If you look, there are a couple of teams sort of struggling, not understanding what’s their eleven or what’s their team... They have been quite successful in the last couple of months.” “For us, that’s in the past, the World Cup is what matters and it’s about peaking at the right time and we are heading in the right direction,” he added.