Nepal have a huge task of maintaining if not elevating the new-found elite status in cricket even as the team only recently made their One Day International (ODI) debut with a two-match ODI series against the Netherlands.

Nepal lost the first ODI on August 1 and won the second against the hosts two days later to square their first ever bilateral ODI series since earning the coveted status by virtue of finishing eighth in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Harare in March.

The status offered Nepal—at least in theory—a chance to rub shoulders against the likes of world cricket powerhouses like India, Australia, South Africa or Pakistan. Nepal’s rise to the 16-team ODI rank is remarkable considering that they only started ICC World Cricket League (WCL) at the bottom of the qualifying structure in 2008—the Division 5. What makes the achievement all the more astonishing is that, the nation is without a recognised governing body since 2016. The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) citing government interference and infighting. The move meant the absence of domestic cricket, and ever since the ICC has been overseeing Nepal’s international participation.

However, Nepali cricket took a big stride towards retaining ICC membership in April as the constitution amendment draft proposed by the Advisory Group was unanimously approved by the Special General Meeting (SGM) of the now-defunct CAN. Also ICC has set number of conditions before going for fresh central election, and if found satisfactory ICC membership will be lifted.

National team skipper Paras Khadka, an influential figure in Nepali cricket, believes the team have potential to scale new heights in international cricket with the elevated status. “But first up, it all comes down to the cricket board. We need a well functioning cricket board in its place. We need to sort out off-field issues first before even thinking of on-field plans,” said Khadka, a key figure in Nepal’s recent success in international cricket.

For Khadka, the second step for the new administrator would be to set up proper infrastructure in place so that they can think of planing bilateral ODI series on home soil against teams like Scotland, Netherlands, Afghanistan, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. Playing such bilateral series, be it on home turf or away, on a regular basis will definitely give better exposure to the team which in the long run would help strengthen the Nepali team. “Results would be of less significance initially but playing tough opponents on regular basis will surely raise our standard,” added Khadka.

Khadka also believes the board can tap on the cricketing strength of neighbours India. “The board should reach out the BCCI or the state associations to ask for matches,” he said. It may not be practical to manage matches with world cricketing giants India but with proper diplomacy the possibility of getting matches with second string side, Academy teams or state teams is very much possible.

Khadka cited Kenya, Afghanistan and Ireland who got better exposures with their elevated ODI status and had stunned cricket giants likes England, Pakistan and West Indies in the past. “If we get the same level of exposure as Afghanistan or Ireland on a regular basis, its not far that we pull off similar feat in near future,” said Khadka.

Omen is good though as BCCI recently invited the Nepali team for a four-team U-19 tournament scheduled for September 12-18 in Kolkata. India are fielding two squads—National Cricket Academy and U-19 team—apart from Nepal and Afghanistan.

Binod Das, former national team captain and U-19 coach, sounded a bit cautious. “If we did not utilise the  opportunity, we may lose the status and it could be very difficult to regain it again. With a little bit of push on infrastructure and committed cricket board, we can easily scale new heights. Bring in new leaders in governing body who have vision and the effect will be evident in short time,” said Das.