Paras Khadka says future is bright for Nepal cricket as team stand on cusp of maiden ODI series win

Anib Challenge Series against UAE poised at 1-1 ahead of Monday's final ODI in Dubai

Dipendra Singh Airee of Nepal runs out Mohammad Naveed of UAE in the the match at ICC, Dubai. All photos by Chris Whiteoak / The National

Sandeep Lamichhane of Nepal takes the wicket of Muhammad Usman of UAE.

Aarif Sheikh of Nepal catches Usman.

Capt Mohammad Naveed, right, of UAE smiles during the match.

Lamichhane of Nepal takes the wicket of Chundangapoyil Rizwan of UAE.

Rizwan bats in the match.

Lamichhane bats in the match.

Sompal Kami of Nepal takes the wicket of Shaiman Anwar of UAE.

Rohit Paudel of Nepal makes 50.

Aarif Sheikh of Nepal bats in the match.

Nepal fans cheer during the match.

Imran Haider of UAE takes the wicket of Paras Khadka of Nepal.

Amir Hayat, left, of UAE takes the wicket of Binod Bhandari of Nepal.

Hayat bowls in the match.

Bhandari bats in the match.

Paras Khadka, the Nepal captain, says the future is bright for his side, after their promising start to life as a one-day international team.

Nepal were granted full ODI status after the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in March 2018. They drew their maiden series in the Netherlands last summer, and are now a win away from claiming a first series victory, in the UAE.

After losing the first match against UAE at the ICC Academy on Friday, the tourists bounced back to thrash their hosts by 145 runs a day later.

That win was brought about chiefly by a 16-year-old batsman, Rohit Paudel, an 18-year-old leg-spinner, Sandeep Lamichhane, and a 22-year-old seam-bowler, Sompal Kami.

Khadka, 31, said the youthful exuberance of his side augurs well for the future.

“It is fabulous,” Khadka said, ahead of Monday’s series decider at the ICC Academy.

“We just need to get these boys into the cricketing scheme of things where they can play cricket all over the world.

“It is a fact that we have always had talented cricketers, but the exposure hasn’t been enough.

“Hopefully with the ODI status, players will get more opportunities. We have a very young squad and hopefully it is a team that is only going to build up.

“Hopefully in the next two to three years we will have a fantastic unit where everybody is pushing themselves.

“Right now, everyone is very, very keen, everybody wants to perform, and there is a lot of healthy competition within the team itself.

“It is a pathway and we are looking towards the next two to three years. Obviously, right now this series is important, but we are trying to build up and have a pool of 25 to 30 fantastic cricketers who can come in and represent the country at any given time.

“There are exciting times ahead, definitely.”