OPINION
Follow UsA veteran in Nepal cricket, overseeing its ups and downs, a wild-old sage Gyanendra Malla's exit from the sport leaves Nepal with a massive void to fill. The beauty of Malla is that he didn't crave attention. He was well aware of his capabilities and limitations and used them all to take Nepal cricket forward.
With the big news of Alex Hales retiring from international cricket doing rounds, you may have missed this piece of information. While Malla is no Hales, he has undoubtedly been a huge figure in Nepal cricket and one of the most influential players in their cricketing history, after Paras Khadka.
Arguably, one of the biggest moments for Nepal was when they qualified for the T20 World Cup in 2014. Things improved when they won two of their three games in the competition but missed out on a place in the Super 10s as Bangladesh had a better net run-rate. For a team languishing in Division Five in 2008 to play a World Cup and win a couple of games in the tournament spoke volumes of what the team was capable of.
There's little doubt that Khadka had a cult following back then in his country, but in his early 20s, Malla was just about getting started. He was perhaps the only power-hitter in the team, as his run tally of 83 at a strike-rate of 138 in the mega event would depict. In 2012, he scored his side's fastest one-day fifty, getting to the landmark off just 17 deliveries against Saudi Arabia. He would later, in 2014, go on to bludgeon 167 off just 157 against Ragama Cricket Club in Colombo.
However, with a T20 World Cup Qualifiers at home in November this year and the Asia Cup before that, was the timing of Malla's retirement right? Being one of the most experienced players in the set-up, Nepal would have loved to rely on his experience and get the job done. Under Monty Desai, Nepal have certainly turned a corner, making it to the World Cup Qualifiers, after being down and out at one stage in the Cricket World Cup League 2 and qualifying for the Asia Cup. It has been a whirlwind six months or so for the team.
Form was certainly not on Malla's side. In his last 10 ODI innings, the 32-year-old managed to cross 20 just once - in complete contrast to his 10 knocks before that, in which he scored three fifties to go with a couple of other handy knocks.
Right from the Under-15s, Malla has left his mark at every level. He scored an unbeaten 46 in the Plate semi-final against a Dean Elgar-led South Africa at the U-19 2006 World Cup in Colombo as his side stunned the Proteas by two runs. Nepal would go a step further and also beat New Zealand in the Plate final, in a team consisting of future stars like Tim Southee, Colin Munro, Martin Guptill and others.
Earmarked for greatness, Malla became Khadka's deputy in 2018, and later on, in 2019, he took over the reins from him to be named captain. While Nepal continued to climb silently, with them winning bronze at the 2019 Asian Games under Malla, there were reports of unrest between the players and Cricket Associaton of Nepal (CAN). As a result, Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee were sacked as captain and vice-captain, respectively, with Sandeep Lamichhane being appointed captain.
Lamichhane, by then, was a globetrotter who had played and succeeded in many T20 leagues worldwide. While CAN solved an immediate problem, they had perhaps brought upon crisis on itself with the appointment of Lamichhane, as many in the dressing room were not too pleased with the attitude he brought in.
It reflected in the results. Nepal managed just four wins (two of them vs bottom-paced PNG) and a tie in his 14 games in charge in League 2. Plenty of qualified coaches, including Dav Wahtmore, looked to restore Nepal Cricket's pride but were unable to do it. Moreover, Lamichhane was also banned after allegations of sexual harassment.
In came Monty Desai, who had previously worked with Nepal Cricket, albeit in a different capacity. He did not look back as he formed a formidable partnership with his new skipper Rohit Paudel. What followed was an inspired performance from a team that looked possessed and determined to create history. Under Desai, Nepal have won 15 out of the 20 ODIs so far and, along the way, also booked their place in Asia Cup, where they will face India and Pakistan.
In this period, Malla has done very little of significance, scoring just 167 runs at 15.18 in 11 matches. Desai would have certainly banked on his experience given there is plenty of stake for Nepal in the next 3-4 months, but with many youngsters ready to take their opportunities, it perhaps paves the way for yet another fresh start in Nepal cricket.
"I think it is the right time to retire," Malla said, announcing his retirement.
"It has been nearly two decades that I have been associated with the national team and got the opportunity to represent the country for 18 years — also as deputy captain and captain," the top-order batter added.
While his stats - an average of about 24 in both ODIs and T20Is - might not do justice to the talent and contribution to Nepal cricket, Malla can be proud of his contributions to putting Nepal on the map and leaving it way richer.
