Nepal’s U-19 cricket team captain Raju Rijal has been in the news for two reasons: for his batting display and controversy about his age.
Rijal, who has already received a clean a chit from the International Cricket Council on charges that he was overage for the U-19 category, talked to Onlinekhabar about his career and his World Cup experience.
During the World Cup, I came to know from the media about the allegations leveled against me. I was shocked. I personally don’t know the person whose Fb post started the whole controversy. I don’t remember playing with him for the same team. I have played school-level cricket in India, but not the way he said I did. I don’t want to talk about it now.
Once upon a time in Mumbai
I was born in a remote village in Nepal’s hills. I have reasons to believe it was Kastki. I was 2-3 years old when my family moved to Dhangadhi. Dad was working in India. Later, he called us to India, where we started living. I was five years old then. I went to school in India, where I held the cricket bat for the first time. I got to play school-level cricket in Mumbai.
Since the early days, I used to bat as well as keep wickets. Aussie wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist was my idol. I wanted to imitate his style. But when it came to international cricket, I was a fan of the Indian team.
Coming back to Nepal
When I came to Nepal once on holiday, I played a tournament, SPA Cup, representing Achham. Lokendr Khatri, who was with the team, was impressed with my performance, and it was he who suggested that I try for regional tournaments.
Meanwhile, dad retired, and we returned to Nepal. Immediately after that I got a call from Region No.9 to play for them. Later I became the captain of the side, and got selected for the U-19 national side.
I finished grade 11 in India, but I could not pass grade 12 because our family moved to Nepal. I did not join any college in Nepal, I was too busy with cricket. I wanted to go back to India and study, but that plan did not work out.
I played the Asia Cup as a member of the U-19 national team, and we qualified for the World Cup. Soon I was named captain of the squad. I even got an opportunity to play for the national side once. In the match against World XI in Malaysia, i made 95 runs before getting out.
Looking back at the World Cup
Our aim was to make it to the second round of the World Cup. We were preparing to face Australia, but later the Aussies pulled out, and Ireland took its place. If Australia were there, it would have been difficult for us to get to the second round. But playing against Australia would have given us good match exposure.
Our first match was against New Zealand. We played to win. We had faith in our fielding and bowling abilities, and we knew that we could make it if we could post over 200 runs on the board. That is how things turned out, and we defeated New Zealand. I think I batter well in that match, and our bowlers backed us up.
The second match against Ireland was not that difficult for us. We had defeated Ireland before also. It was during this match that Sandeep Lamichhane took a hat-trick, and that was proud moment for all of us.
The wicket in Bangladesh was suited to our batting technique. There was not much turn in the pitch, but any spinner who could hold his line and length would be rewarded with wickets.
Looking at the pitch, we had decided to focus more on spin that pace. We had the option of a pacer in Deepesh, but he could not find a place in the playing 11 because we wanted a spinner. We were confident that our medium pacers would do a good job
Losing streak
We ended up losing the last four matches of the tournament. We scored 170-odd against India, but the Indian batsmen played aggressively. They achieved a momentum which was difficult to reverse. Against Pakistan, it was our batting that let us down again. But our bowlers, whom we banked upon, also could not perform. The Pakistani bowlers, whom we decided to go after, ended up with the wickets.
At hindsight, I think the match against Bangladesh was the one we would like to forget badly. We could have reached the semifinals. We were in a position to win. But it was match experience that made all the difference. While I was at the crease, we were looking at 250. But I was run-out, and that was the turning point of the match.
The way forward
I want to continue playing cricket, and cement a place in the national side. I am looking forward to it.
