KATHMANDU: “Nepal is facing its toughest series yet, but our targets remain high. We want to end this run on a strong note, as I am simply not someone who accepts defeat.”

When Stuart Grant Law was appointed as the head coach of the Nepali national cricket team around the first quarter of 2025, this statement given by him was something that raised hopes for many. At that time, his main responsibility was to improve Nepal’s status in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, which is considered the basis for qualifying for the One Day International (ODI) World Cup jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia the following year.

When Law took charge of the team, Nepal had already played 12 out of 36 matches in League 2. With two wins, two no-result matches, and a total of 6 points, Nepal was in seventh position among eight teams. The challenge of lifting the team out of a difficult situation rested on his shoulders.

However, even under the leadership of a coach who dislikes losing, Nepal’s performance failed to improve as expected. Nepal has managed to win only nine out of 19 matches played under his coaching. Consequently, the goal of directly securing a spot in the World Cup Qualifiers has grown increasingly difficult, while the ODI status gained in 2018 is itself in jeopardy. Having played 31 matches, Nepal has slipped to sixth place with 24 points, registering 11 wins, 18 losses, and two no-results. Now, with only five matches remaining in this cycle of League 2, Nepal finds itself in a position of falling into the ‘bottom two.’

Sandeep Lamichhane

In such a situation, Nepal will conclude its eighth series by playing against the Netherlands on Wednesday. Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel states that the target is to end the series by securing a win in that match. “Throughout this tour, our batting has not been up to expectations. Now one final match remains, and we hope to deliver a good performance in it,” he says.

Nepal’s missed opportunity

The qualification process for the 2027 ICC ODI World Cup is divided into several stages. First, the top eight teams in the ICC ODI rankings will directly qualify for the World Cup. Host nations South Africa and Zimbabwe are two of those teams. Besides them, defending champions Australia, runners-up India, along with England, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have also qualified directly.

A Global Qualifier will be held for the remaining four spots in the World Cup. Participating in this tournament will be four teams ranked 9th to 12th in the ODI rankings (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, West Indies, and Ireland), the top four teams from League 2, and four teams qualified through the Qualifier Play-off.

The United States, occupying top position in League 2 with 43 points from 32 matches, has already secured that opportunity. Aside from them, Scotland, with 38 points from 32 matches, along with the Netherlands, Oman, Namibia, and Canada, is in contention for the top four. The Netherlands has reached 36 points from 30 matches, Oman 31 points from 28 matches, and Canada 24 points from 28 matches.

The teams finishing 5th to 8th in League 2 will have to go to the qualifier play-off. Currently occupying these positions are Namibia, Nepal, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Namibia has 26 points from 31 matches, and Nepal has 24 points from the same number of matches. The UAE, having played 24 matches, is at the bottom of the table with 14 points.

In Group ‘A’ of the Challenge League, which currently features 12 teams, Jersey is at the top with 17 points and Kuwait with 14 points. In the other group, Uganda with 18 points and Italy with 16 points are in the top four. The best four teams from there will reach the Global Qualifier.

The top four teams from the Global Qualifier will secure spots in the World Cup to be hosted next year by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Right now, the most crucial tournament for Nepal was League 2. If Nepal had secured a spot in the top four in League 2, it would have played directly in the Global Qualifier, just as in 2023. However, for that to happen, winning all eight matches in the ongoing series in the Netherlands and the upcoming series in October would not have been enough for Nepal.

National team after taking a wicket against Scotland

It also required a scenario where Namibia, alongside the Netherlands and Oman, who are ahead of Nepal on the points table, lost their matches. But Nepal, which arrived in the Netherlands with a glimmer of hope, failed to secure a win at the end of three matches. After surrendering an eight-wicket loss to Namibia in the very first match, Nepal suffered a six-wicket defeat against the host team in the next match. In the third match yesterday, Monday, Nepal suffered another three-run loss to Namibia. With this, it is almost certain that Nepal will head to the qualifier play-off. Namibia, having improved its position by one spot following two consecutive wins against Nepal, will now play one match against the Netherlands in the ongoing series and the final series of League 2 in October against the host nations USA and UAE.

The USA has already qualified for the Global Qualifier. The UAE, having gathered 14 points from 24 matches, still has 12 matches left to play. Meanwhile, Canada, which shares the same 24 points as Nepal, also has eight matches remaining, making it highly likely that Nepal will end up in the ‘bottom two’ of the points table.

What happens to the ODI status?

Due to continuous poor performance, ODI status has also become a matter of concern. According to Binod Das, manager of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and former cricketer, Nepal must not fall into the ‘bottom two’ of League 2 to retain its ODI status. If it falls into the ‘bottom two,’ it must clear the qualification stage by finishing in the top two of the qualifier play-off. In this tournament, as mentioned above, teams from the bottom of League 2 and those coming from the Challenge League compete against each other.

Kushal Bhurtel hits a century against the USA

“Since Nepal is currently third from the bottom, it cannot be asserted with certainty that the ODI status is out of danger. If it remains in the bottom two, Nepal will be pushed into the playoffs. Teams coming from the Challenge League are not weak either. Therefore, the challenge of having to win to advance will be added,” he says.

In the previous edition’s Qualifier Play-off, Namibia, the USA, the UAE, and Papua New Guinea (PNG) from the bottom of League 2, along with Canada and Jersey from the Challenge League, competed against each other. These six teams faced each other in a single round-robin format.

From March 26 to April 5, 2023, each team played five ODI matches. Among them, the USA and the UAE, who secured the top two positions on the points table, made it to the Global Qualifier in Zimbabwe.

Along with this, there was another interesting competition within this tournament. Since the USA and Namibia had finished the 2019-2023 League 2 cycle in fourth and fifth places, they had already ‘retained’ their ODI status.

However, the bottom two teams of that same cycle, UAE and PNG, and Challenge League winners Canada and Jersey competed for the remaining two spots in the 2024-2026 League 2 cycle. Among these four teams, the top two, UAE and Canada, secured their spots in League 2. With this, they regained ODI status. The remaining two teams, PNG and Jersey, were relegated back to the Challenge League. Manager Das states that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has not changed this rule so far.

“As of now, no information has come that any rule has been changed. Based on this very rule, if Nepal remains in the bottom two, it will have to rely on the playoffs to save its ODI status,” he says.