READY FOR T20

S
M& FOCUS 12 JUNE, 2015, FRIDAY
TOP STORY
The national cricket team is
currently training in
Dharmasala, India preparing
for it’s monumental
Twenty20 World Cup 2016
Qualifiers. Just before
their trip, M&S caught up with the
vice-captain Gyanendra Malla to
talk about their dream of reaching
yet another World Cup.
You’ve been involved in the
national cricket since you
were a teenager. What exactly,
do you think, pulled you
towards the sport?
Cricket wasn’t that popular in
Kathmandu when I was growing
up. There were only a few open
spaces in the city, and those were
mostly dominant with footballenthusiasts.
One day, a friend
decided to try cricket for a change.
We didn’t have equipments then,
but we made do with plywood bats
and even turned to badminton rackets
and cocks as stand-ins. The real
addiction, however, started when
the dais from our tole started taking
me to Tudhikhel for matches with
real equipments.
How did you end up in the
national team scene?
Later when I started playing with
some older kids, I was made the
caretaker of the few cricket gear
we had. I used to take the gear home
with me, practice with them and
make repairs myself. But I never
saw myself playing cricket professionally—I
actually wanted to join
the army growing up. But with
“We
believe that
this is another
opportunity to unite
the country and
bring joy to the
masses.”
GETTING
READY
FOR T20
A little shy, but a little too suave, vice-captain of
the national cricket squad, Gyanendra Malla,
talks to M&S about his life in cricket, and the life
of Nepali cricket post-quake. By Binit Bana
encouragement from the dais in
my tole, I joined our local Yangal
Cricket Club and tried out for the
district selections. Then I slowly
made my way into the Kathmandu
district team, the regional team
and to the national under-15—we
even won the ACC U-15 Cup. There
has been no looking back since.
What would you say is your
biggest achievement in cricket
so far?
My biggest (personal as well as
a team) achievement has to be
reaching the 2014 T20 World Cup.
It was an emotional journey—
being on live international TV, the
national song being played, and the
cheering of the fans. That moment
made me realise that I had at least
achieved something in my life.
Any personal moment in
cricket that changed your life?
Well, I was 12-years-old, when I
was first granted a chance to get
into a real cricket match. Our
neighbourhood used to organise
an annual competition called the
JP Cup, and on the second year I
was enlisted as the 12th man on the
team because of my age. On the
match day, a team member got off
the field, and I was let in. I was on
the fine leg and the wicketkeeper
missed the ball, which came
towards me. I ran with full might
towards it, with a sole intention to
stop it from hitting the boundary.
I dived for it and saved it, and then
came a thunderous applause from
the audience. That is when I
realised that I could play the game.
Talking about the recent
Great Earthquake, how was
your experience like?
I was back from my training
that day, just fiddling with my
niece’s colouring book, sitting
on the floor with my
wife. Just as I was getting
up, I felt the tremor. At first
I couldn’t register what was
going on, but even when I
realised it was an earthquake,
I thought it would be a minor
one. When the tremors didn’t stop
and I heard people shouting, I
realised that it was a big one. What
worried me more was the wellbeing
of 100 or more kids downstairs in
my brother-in-law’s institution—
Nepal Mastermind: a training
centre for children. The kids were
all terrified but we managed to keep
them calm during the quake and
safely send them away later with
their parents.
How did the earthquake affect
the squad?
Previously, we had a plan to organise
selections for the World Cup
Qualifiers at the beginning of May.
We wanted to pick around 40 players,
spilt them into teams, have a
mini tournament to pick a top 18
and go abroad for match practices.
Needless to say the earthquake
wrecked our schedule. We couldn’t
call the players because of the aftershocks,
so the coach and the team
decided that everyone would stay
put and train personally if possible.
Cricket has always brought hope
to the country and we believe that
this is another opportunity to unite
the country and bring joy to the
masses.
Any plans before the
qualifiers?
We’re training in India till the
third week of June before returning
to Nepal and heading out to the
UK again for training matches with
their county teams. Then we head
to Ireland for the Qualifier, which
starts from July 6.
Ed Talk
Living it up
M&S Team
Editor-In-Chief: Akhilesh Upadhyay
Bureau Chief: Samriddhi Rai
Sub-editors: Astha Chand, Binit Raj Bana
Contributors: Gaurav Pote, Biraj Singh Chhetri
Design & Layout: MP Marasini
Photographer: Nirnit Tandukar
On cover: Gyanendra Malla
MUA: Suman Lama
Cover Photography: Sanjog Rai
Muse Amuse
2
Life is so fleeting, so uncertain. And the
best thing we can do is to live it up, live
in the now. From the very beginning, we
at Movers & Shakers have embraced the
spirit of ‘living it up.’ Living it up by hearing
what the extraordinary people have to say, living
it up by experiencing the best there is out
there from food, fashion, travel and lifestyle,
and living it up by living perhaps the best kind
of life—being passionate, fit, adventurous,
kind and generous. Stories that refreshes our
insights, stories that stir our souls and stories
that inspire our being are exactly the kind of
stories we hunt for week after week. And we
can only hope that you’re positively moved by
it all, as much as we are moved when making
it for you.
My picks from the pack
1
2
3
Cricket is a gentleman’s game, they
say. And team M&S got to meet yet
another gentleman from the national
squad—Gyanendra Malla, who with his
smooth story-telling skills got us hooked
to all he had to say; Malla shares of his
earthquake experience and the team’s
preparation for the T-20 World Cup.
—Top Story, Page 2
An educational entrepreneur, Indira Yakthumba
set out from modest beginnings
to now achieving sizeable success in the
field. And she did it all at a time when
women power and independence was
unheard of. Hear her story this week.
— M&S, Page 4
Of the many sectors the Great
Earthquake hit hard, tourism is one.
But majority of touristic destinations
remain unaffected, including the ever so
picturesque Bandipur. Head out there
for a weekend trip, maybe?
— Journey On, Page 8
Wish you all a pleasant weekend ahead.
Samriddhi Rai
Bureau Chief
Twitter: @samriddhirai13
“Gyanendra Malla has a polished face and that
boy-next-door kind of vibe to him. So, to counteract
that, I wanted to do something a little different and
give him a rough look. The styling along with the
bike prop added to that ruggedness that I wanted
to bring out and I’m very happy with the outcome.
Gyanendra Malla will definitely be the new heartthrob
in town.”
— Sanjog Rai, Cover Photographer