Andrew Leonard clicking photos with Nepalese fans in Mumbai.
MUMBAI
Andrew Leonard, a popular Irish cricket commentator, presenter, and advocate for associate cricket feels that the standard of associate nations is rising and the gap between Associate nations and Test-playing nations is rapidly decreasing, particularly in the T20 format.
Just few days into the T20 World Cup, the performances of Nepal, USA, Netherlands and Scotland is a proof of that.
“The standard of associate nations is definitely on the rise,” said Leonard after Nepal’s superlative effort against England at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday wherein they narrowly lost to the British side by merely four runs.
“Nepal performance has not come to me as a surprise. They pushed the second-best side in the tournament to the brink,” the cricket commentator told The Goan.
Popularly known as ‘Taklu Dai’ (Bald Brother) by fans in Nepal for his deep support and commentary on Nepali teams in ICC events, Leonard has a huge fan base in Nepal. In Mumbai too, it was no different with several Nepalese fans flocking to him for selfies after the England-Nepal match.
Reflecting on that match, he said, “It was a great game for an associate team. It has been a brilliant start at the World Cup so far for Associate nations, a start what exactly a 20-team World Cup should be all about. New names, new faces being introduced on a global stage. One does not follow these associate teams so closely. Now, we have some incredible performances from them.”
Leonard further added, “Netherlands were in a touching distant of beating Pakistan. Probably, they could have beaten Pakistan. I really feel sad for them with the dropped catch.”
“USA were exceptional against India. At one point, India was really in deep trouble. May be, had not been the dropped catch of SKY, USA were one step away from causing one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history,” Andrew said.
“Scotland were good against the West indies. Even better against Italy to register a big win.”
Leonard was full of praise to the boys from Nepal.
“Nepal nearly shocked the world. The ‘Cardiac Kids’ were in full force striking England into one of the great fights in this format. A huge amount of pride for all the young men in the way they carried themselves against the second-best team in the tournament - two-time world champions England.”
Leonard feels that with this performance Nepal’s popularity will definitely increase.
“They are sure going to become everyone's second favourite side in this competition,” he said.
Andrew further added, “In the coming days, we will see the associates performing even better. But they will also have the occasional bad days as well.”
Nepal will be playing their remaining league matches at the Wankhede Stadium as well against Italy (Feb 12), West Indies (Feb 15) and Scotland (Feb 17).
Thousands of fans have travelled all the way from Nepal to watch their team play in Mumbai. This was evident from the huge crowd turnout during the match against England.
Leonard has a message for the Nepalese fans.
“Make sure you stay right behind the team. Don't worry about the wins. they will come. It’s all part of the journey. “
