KATHMANDU, JUL 28 - Skipper Paras Khadka said it depends on the cricket governing body of the country whether or not to continue him as captain of the national team after a poor performance in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in Ireland and Scotland. Khadka’s captaincy has been under scrutiny after Nepal managed to win just one out of six league matches in the Qualifiers where they finished at the bottom of seven-team Group ‘A’, missing out on their second consecutive ICC World Twenty20 spot. Khadka, along with coach Pubudu Dassanayake, has been criticised for the team’s dismal show in the Qualifiers with the former asked to relinquish his captaincy. The skipper, who failed with the bat, said he will stand up and take the responsibility for all the losses as a captain and as a player leaving the rest on the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). “Its up to CAN whether they want me as a captain or not. I still want to play for Nepal and give my best. As long as I can perform and help the team win, that is more important than anything else,” Khadka told The Kathmandu Post from Edinburgh where the team is preparing for two World Cricket League Championship matches against Scotland on July 29 and 31. Barring a state of injury during Nepal’s disastrous World Cup Qualifiers where the team had finished a disappointing ninth last year, it was the first time that Khadka had flopped with the bat with his poor showing costing his team dear. But Khadka is not the only one under hot water. Dassanayake has been hugely criticised for selecting out of form players and agreeing on for a tough schedule. After the April 25 Great Quake, the national team cricketers were not able to start timely preparations for the Qualifiers and began their training from June 15 in Dharamshala. The team then ended up playing 10 matches in 12 days, including four back-to-back Twenty20 Internationals against the Netherlands, before beginning their Qualifiers campaign on July 10. Khadka was open to criticism and backed his coach. “Criticism will follow and its understandable because people always want us to do better. The only fact is that we couldn’t play well. No one should blame the coach as he was not the one who took to the field and played. We had the best possible players in the 15-man squad but the whole team crumbled,” added the skipper, who scored a total 49 runs from five innings in the Qualifiers. “We had all the plans and everything was ready for us to perform. We must learn to accept the defeat and realise that we did not play well and nothing can deny that. There is no point in blaming each other. We need to focus on building our own game, characters and coming out strong.” Shrugging off the fact of playing under a tight schedule, Khadka said even the best from the team was not enough for better result. “We were looking very good in Netherlands (a series that Nepal lost 3-1). Its just that no one performed during the Qualifiers. There is no doubt that everyone gave their best but sometimes even your best is not enough,” he said adding losing a spot in the World Twenty20 was painful. “More than the results what we feel bad about is the way we played. We are a much better team than what we displayed. Missing out on a World Cup is painful and who knows it more than anyone of us. We tried what we could and this time things did not work out.”
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