Asia Cup opens doors, but minnows need more matches to put lessons into practice

Last year, Hong Kong made it to the T20 Asia Cup in the UAE, defeating the United Arab Emirates in the final of the qualifying competition. It was their fourth entry into the tournament, and first in the 20-over format; pitted against India and Pakistan, it was supposed to be a great learning experience for the team coached by Trent Johnston, the Aussie-born Irishman who knows a thing or two about upsets.

Johnston was the non-striker when John Mooney smashed James Anderson for four to herald a famous Irish upset of England at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru at the 2011 World Cup. In so many ways, that result became the bedrock around which Ireland built their cricketing edifice and earned Test status in 2018.

If Hong Kong were hoping to tap into the veteran paceman’s wisdom and knowledge bank to make a mark at the Asia Cup, they were in for a rude shock. After watching Pakistan amass 193 for two, they were bowled out for 38; a couple of days later, India brushed them aside by 40 runs, taking their foot off the pedal and allowing their opponents to escape with some respectability.

Participation in the Asia Cup was expected to boost the profile of Hong Kong cricket, lessons learnt from interacting with the likes of Babar Azam and Virat Kohli waiting to be put into practice. However, since last August, they have only played four more Twenty20 Internationals, in a quadrangular tournament in March.

Nepal enjoys the privilege

The ‘privilege’ of earning the right to play in this edition’s Asia Cup has fallen on Nepal, who clinched the inaugural ACC Men’s Premier Cup. Their reward – being grouped, like Hong Kong, with powerhouses Pakistan and India. Their Asia Cup debut in Multan last Wednesday ended with a 238-run hammering; on Monday, weather permitting, Rohit Paudel’s men will run into Rohit Sharma’s side at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, hoping the Indians will be a little more indulgent.

Nepal have made 58 ODI appearances, winning 30 including three against Scotland, who have played in multiple World Cups. In Sandeep Lamichhane, they have an excellent leg-spinner who has more than 100 ODI scalps, though he is under a cloud over charges of sexual assault. They have energy and enthusiasm and spunk if not the expertise and the infrastructure required to consistently leave a mark at the international level. Of all the Asian teams not playing Test cricket, they are ranked the highest at No. 15 in the ICC ODI rankings, ahead of Oman and the UAE. And yet, what can they realistically expect to gain from an Asia Cup appearance, apart from proudly proclaiming that they shared a cricket ground in a 50-over international with some of the biggest names in the history of the game?

Level playing field?

It’s only since the evolution of the T20 game that cricket has spread its tentacles beyond a limited pocket and assumed a global hue, however blurry that might be. As many as 87 teams figure in the ICC’s T20I rankings list, ranging from Rwanda and Belize to Lesotho and Eswatini. The International Cricket Council’s desire to draw more members into its fold has resulted in the conferring of international match status to any encounter between the 87 teams, though the gap between the cream and the rest is so humongous that it’s superfluous to even start wondering when the playing field will get level.

While promoting the sport in distant lands is a laudable proposition, how does one balance that with ensuring that these teams get proper exposure that they are not merely making up the numbers? Playing the odd tournament against the top dogs is certainly no way to expedite the learning process, but at the same time, ostracising them from such events by suggesting that they might be ‘devaluing’ the tournament is both self-defeating and counter-productive. Given the hectic schedules of the more celebrated nations, it is impossible to expect them to set aside time for the development of the sport in the so-called smaller countries, however laudable and heart-warming the concept might be.

Much to learn from the Afghans

Teams like Hong Kong and Nepal have a great example to emulate in the form of Afghanistan, whose rise as a cricketing nation has been rapid. In saying that, several of the early torchbearers of Afghanistan cricket grew up in refugee camps in Pakistan where they picked up the smarts and the skills that have made Pakistan a formidable force. In adversity, unimaginable hardship and the daily struggles that dotted their lives, they found both an escape and an exhilaration in cricket that allowed them to channelise their frustrations and angst. Like Ireland, they too were granted Test status in 2018 and superstars like Rashid Khan have become household names in all cricket-playing nations.

While the others can draw inspiration from the Afghans, the latter’s cricketing journey is unique and unmatchable. For them to progress beyond playing each other, they need to up their cricketing profile, but they can only do so if they play teams significantly better than them. In this chicken-and-egg scenario, there is no straightforward solution beyond appealing to the goodness of the governing boards of teams like India and Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and Afghanistan, asking them to spare their ‘A’ or even their ‘B’ teams for reasonably regular face-offs so that an Asia Cup appearance alone doesn’t become an event to celebrate.

In its eagerness to spread the profile of the sport, the ICC’s qualification process facilitated the presence of the United States at the Champions Trophy – no less – in England in 2004. Nearly two decades on, US cricket is still trying to find its feet, wracked for many years in the interim by internecine issues. And while it will be beyond the ICC to get involved in the internal affairs of its member boards, it can and must hold them accountable if its stated desire of a global platform for the sport is to become a reality.

None of this will occupy Nepal’s attention going into the India game. In Multan, they were at the receiving end of a Babar masterpiece and a stunning exhibition of bowling from Pakistan’s pacers. They might suspect more of the same lies in wait on Monday and while they may not necessarily enjoy it, for now, the highlights of their career will merely be breathing the same air as their glamorous continental colleagues.