Just for record. Here is my interview as published in the official website of the Asian Cricket Council.
UJJWAL ACHARYA: EYE ON NEPAL
Krishna Prasad Acharya, 30, commonly known as ‘Ujjwal’, is Nepal’s leading cricket correspondent. He is to be found in print, online, on television, on radio practically on a daily basis. He pioneered online cricket coverage in Nepal in 2001 and since then has kept Nepal’s legion of fans inside and outside the country in touch with “the most popular sport in the country.” His insightful, diligent, fair-mindedness coupled with his tireless enthusiasm has made him the go-to-person for informed, enlightened commentary on cricket in Nepal. He spoke to us in Kathmandu.
“The whole country is crazy for cricket. Even in the mountains they play the game.”
Why do you like cricket so much more than other sports?
“Maybe because it is the only sport I can play well. I was never good at football and whenever I played with CAN in a Journalists v Association match they have never gotten me out other than just run out. We play with the former national players. Cricket was introduced to me when I was a little child. My school had volunteers from Oxford and Cambridge University and when I was in Class VII, it was the first time I saw a cricket bat and learnt how to play. We played in the school ground from then on. When we played there was a slight confusion because ‘our rule’ stated that a batsman could be run out at either end irrespective of which end he was running to. This ‘rule’ was changed only nine months later when another volunteer came over and told us that we were wrong. It was a lot of fun back then.”
How long have you been a journalist?
“I have been a journalist for the past 12 years. I began training when I was still a student of journalism.”
What made you become a writer?
“There were a few things. In Nepal, when you get good marks for the school exams, you generally try becoming a doctor or an engineer. I was actually amongst the top 50 students in Nepal after finishing school and everyone asked me to sign up for engineering. I just felt I wasn’t going to be comfortable doing it though so I chose journalism since this was an area where I could really express myself. I’ve always loved to write and ever since I was a child I used to write poems and stories and considered myself a creative writer. I chose to be a journalist because if I write, then people would read my work.”
Updating scores from Tribhuvan University Ground every over on the net, during the 2009 ACC U-17 Elite Cup Final
Bearing in mind the recent threats that political journalists have received in Nepal, do you face any problems?
“As a sports journalist I don’t think it is very difficult but I have been taken into police custody for a day. I had participated in a rally when the king was ruling and I was imprisoned for a whole day. I was very worried after being arrested for a day along with other journalists. No one knew I was the one who was writing for the blog. On the blog we didn’t criticize the king all the time, we just report what happens; rallies about democracy amongst other things. At least we are doing our bit by giving out information. Generally Kathmandu is quite safe unless you partake in rallies but outside Kathmandu it is very different because you receive many threats. As a sports journalist it has never happened to me but my family lives here and they ask me why I can’t just stop being a journalist. So you can imagine the situation.”
As a journalist, were you always involved in sport?
“I wasn’t a sports journalist in the beginning. I’ve been a journalist, at the night desk of the Kathmandu Post, I’ve looked after the opinions page and done translations as well. With this cricket site, I have always been involved. Even if I work for a different sector, I was always reporting for my site since 2001 when I established the site. (It’s first page was like this. It’s most recent version is http://www.nepalcricket.com.)
How did you get started as a cricket-writer?
“When I was in the Nepal National Daily working as an intern in 2000, Nepal was participating in the U/19 World Cup in Sri Lanka and there was a match against India. It was to be broadcast on Star Sports but the venue was changed at the last minute because of rain. So when they changed the venue the match was not telecast because the cameras weren’t there but the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) sent out a press release saying that the match was cancelled. I was following it on Cricinfo however, and I knew the match happened). The next day my newspaper carried the match report with the scorecard while all other national newspapers, radio and television stated that the match had been cancelled.”
“I wanted to look for information on the past ACC Trophys then and so when I went onto the internet and could hardly find anything. It was then I decided to start a website on Nepal cricket and in the end of 2000 I began developing the website. For nearly a year and a half I played around with the content and design and in July 2002, I formally announced the website. Since then I’ve been hooked to cricket. “
How many hits does your website get?
“If there is a tournament then there are a lot of visitors to the website but when there is no tournament, things slow down. One thing I have maintained from the beginning is that www.nepalcricket.com would carry news on only Nepalese cricket. I wanted to focus only on Nepal cricket and not other countries and this was because of my time constraints.”
“I think the US tops the list but most of the visitors are Nepalese because there is not much to interest the foreigners. I also run a Nepal cricket fan club which has close to 600 members. Some people registered a fan club and wanted me to be the president to which I refused. I told them that I would gladly run the website but since it was their idea I asked them to go ahead with it.”
“I have been very fortunate because I have a friend who is into the business of web designing and so he has donated me the name and space. Google Ads sends a cheque every few months which pays for a few things but I really don’t have to pay for anything. That is how it runs. I devote my time for the cricket lovers.
Back when you started, did you ever think cricket would grow to such levels of popularity as it is now in Nepal?
“Cricket is the most popular sport in the country now, taking over football. The whole country is crazy for cricket. Even in the mountains they play the game (eg.Cricket in Baglung).”
How has cricket become so popular in Nepal?
“There are a few things to consider when you talk about cricket in Nepal. Cricket and football are equally popular here and I think cricket is popular because it is an interesting game. Unlike football, where the stronger team will almost always win, cricket is more unpredictable. Cricket was always played in the Tarai belt (the southern part of Nepal, on the plains). They have played for a long time because of their close proximity to India. They used to have tournaments almost 20-25 years ago where they had A to D division games. Although it was not managed well, they were still playing. I always say that 1996 was a critical year for Nepalese cricket. Three things happened then: Nepal got the Associate membership of the ICC which means they became a Full ACC member; Nepal went to Malaysia to participate in the first ACC Trophy, it was Nepal’s first international tournament; it was the same time the World Cup was going on.”
“In 1996 there was a boom for cable TV and pay channels in Kathmandu. The matches were all shown live and people were talking about cricket. After our democracy there were a lot more private newspapers and suddenly cricket became one of the fastest growing sports. It was a very critical period for Nepal and from there on there was no stopping cricket and the interest is ongoing because the national team are doing well in international tournaments unlike in football. Currently we’re in the top 30 in the world cricket rankings but in football we’re close to 150 and in football it’s hard to play and win against India or Sri Lanka or even Maldives. This is why there is such a following of cricket because we are defeating countries like USA and Malaysia; countries that have a stronger economy than Nepal.”
Do you think that generation of cricketers who you saw as U-19s in 2000 has reached its peak or can they get even better?
“I think they can get better. I really don’t think they are at their peak. I think the lack of returns from the game affects the players because a lot of them drop out when they reach the senior level. Some of the best bowlers and batsmen who have been in the teams have just suddenly stopped playing because of this. When you are in college you play the game for the passion but when you are out of college you need to think of a career. There are a few players who go to schools and colleges and earn money by coaching the children but this does not happen to everyone.”
“Ever since Roy Dias began coaching Nepal he has done one very good thing – he has made players stick to the basics. He doesn’t want players to go for huge shots unnecessarily. But when Nepal faces a team of hard-hitting batsmen then they face a problem. If you look at Nepal’s matches, they are able to dismiss the top five or six batsmen very early but when the tail-enders come in and swing wildly, the bowlers don’t have any answers. Our basics are strong but in this position we don’t know what to do. There are people who criticize Dias’ style and ask him to let the batsmen play free shots, but I agree with Roy’s method. If the batsmen hit out we may be able to defeat UAE or Afghanistan once or twice but to perform well you need that certain level of discipline and I like that in the team.”
“We also do not have enough domestic cricket. For example, (Nepal’s captain) Binod Das’s first three-day game was an international. He had never played a three-day game until he played at an ACC tournament. Even now most domestic games are 40-over matches and so to play a 50-over match, the players are not used to it. When you play enough cricket at home you will learn a lot more.”
“A few players are in academies – apart from that every player comes raw into the team. There were dropped return catches in this tournament and this is basics especially for the spinners. If the players are given a good cricketing foundation then things like fielding will not be a problem. We cannot change a player in just one month. Nepal always plays better as the tournament goes on and this is because they are learning as they play. If we can do more work and training off the field, Nepal can be much better than they already are.”
Nepal are currently ACC U-17 and U-19 Champions, is the team getting better because the younger players are coming through?
“Yes, but there is not much coaching for them. There is a lot of interest and to start an academy, CAN is faced with a problem of its location. Running a central academy in Kathmandu is not the solution because the players come from all over the country and not only Kathmandu. Unless you have five or six academies CAN cannot do any talent hunting. Cricketing equipment is also quite expensive and most families won’t be able to fund their children with these luxuries. I know a player who represented Barat, the same district where national captain Binod Das is from, and he played in last year’s trophy and we became friends. But the next year he didn’t even come and when I went to Barat to meet him he was working as a TV mechanic. I asked him why he didn’t come and he said that he only had a mother and he couldn’t afford to play cricket seven days a week or else he’d lose his job. Economically it is difficult for families to support their children in playing cricket full-time.”
What can CAN do for the players in your opinion?
“This is a problem and it is difficult because there is always political pressure on CAN because it is not an elected body. CAN is the oldest sporting body to get registered with the government in Nepal and it has a history of more than 100 years. Looking at Mr. Jai Kumar Nath Shah – he was a secretary for a few years and then became the President for about 50 years. The government can easily threaten the body in the sense that they can dissolve it anytime. The government dissolved Mr. Shah’s association and it was a very dishonorable way to be pushed out. I still feel Mr. Shah was one of the best cricket administrators for Nepalese cricket. Now, Mr. Binaya Raj Pandey has done a few good things like gain sponsorship for all the national age-group teams. So if tomorrow the ICC or ACC don’t give us funds, our domestic cricket is still safe. But Mr. Pandey will always feel that threat of the government.”
Has the government ever tried to dissolve the Association and take it over?
“That is not even a solution and even the government knows it. They tried it with football and they were always at odds with FIFA. There is also no one who can run cricket. Mr. Pandey knows a lot of people in the cricketing scene unlike a lot of others. For a long time it was only Mr. Shah and a little bit of Mr. Pandey and so only he knows how to run the association.”
How do you manage to keep objective in your dealings with the team and CAN while staying everyone’s friend?
“By sticking to truth! All of them know I love cricket and whatsoever I do is in the good faith to the cricket. So they all are friends to me, despite what I write.”
What do you see for the future of Nepal cricket?
“The future of Nepal cricket is good. We have been through some bad luck like the 2008 loss to Afghanistan made us lose out on the World Cricket League and so on. That has affected the next five or six years of cricket in Nepal. I hope that is the only bad patch we will have. Cricket is definitely growing and there is a lot of pressure on CAN from the newspapers and media here to do good for the team and players. Now there are a lot of age-related problems and rules, like if a young player plays for the senior team he cannot go back into the U-17 group. Three of five years ago we had 20 good players with six playing in the U-19 and another six in the senior team and the others were spread. This didn’t leave much place for new players to break into the teams and do now we have the opportunity to test the newer players.”
How do you balance your work and love for cricket with everything else?
“It is difficult because my wife says I always work and when I’m at home I do more work for my site. Blogging is something like a hobby and there is no pressure so you can do it when you’re free. Cricket is compulsory because you have to update the public with all the events going on. I could manage before and I am doing it now because previously I was a sports reporter and I always write for the paper. I could just take out the quotes, change the lead and tweak it to put it up on my blog and make it very web-friendly. My wife does get irritated but it is a passion of mine.”
How much cricket do you play now?
I rarely play now. I stopped playing when I was 23. Once I started working it was difficult because working as a journalist you work in the evenings too. When I was in school or college, class finished at 4 and we used to play until 6:30. When I started working though, there was absolutely no time at all.
What are your personal ambitions?
“Now I am an online coordinator for www.myrepublica.com because of cricket. It was because I started a website and then I knew what was online and went into blogging. Through the blog I gave a lot of interviews to newspapers. www.nepalcricket.com will come as one of the first five news websites of Nepal and so my personal ambition would be in online journalism. Of course cricket has always been my hobby and I take nothing from it except that people now know me and mail me to ask about Nepalese cricket. People have asked what if Cricinfo took over when Nepal gains ODI status and so I tell them www.nepalcricket.com is my passion. It is not like I’m going to compete with them but, should that happen, the best part then would be to see Nepal playing Test cricket and that would be my ambition.”
Filed February 24, 2009
