There were plenty of expectations when Nepal traveled to the UAE for the tri-series involving the hosts UAE and the USA. Nepal was riding high on confidence after beating the West Indies 2-1 and winning the Qualifier with an unbeaten run. Even though this series was in a different format, they had shown clear signs of improvement five months ago under new coach Stuart Law — a man who hates losing.

However, nothing worked for them right from the first match, where they suffered a thumping 107-run loss against the USA in Dubai. Historically, Nepal have struggled to chase anything over 200 at this venue, with only one win in five attempts. Things were expected to get better when they faced a struggling UAE side — bottom of the table — with as many as five debutants in the series.

But Nepal went on to lose the remaining three matches of the series, and they were only once close to winning. That was in the third game, where they posted 271 — their highest total among the three matches they batted first. Even then, they dropped what should have been regulation catches.

In hindsight, they looked a few runs short in their last three matches. Nandan bounced out a few batters in the last two games, and Karan looked threatening only with a new ball. Only Sandeep Lamichhane posed a real threat to opposition batters in the middle overs. That’s where Nepal struggled — to put the brakes on scoring. They tried to defend totals of under five runs per over in two matches, and just over 5.5 in another. Going back a year, Nepal couldn’t defend 287 against the USA. In fact, they’ve beaten the USA only once in their last eight encounters.

One major issue that surfaced again in this series was the batters’ inability to convert starts into big scores. There were plenty of good-looking 30s and 40s, but very few substantial innings — only two fifty-plus scores (one century) in total. In contrast, the USA had four different players scoring six fifties between them, along with two centuries. Even the UAE had four batters passing fifty, with two falling in the 90s against Nepal. Three of the four highest partnerships in this series came against Nepal.

Nepal now finds themselves in a position similar to the end of 2022 — before their remarkable run of 11 wins in the last 12 games. Back then, they had 8 wins from 24 matches; this time, it’s only 5 from 20. They’ll need a similar turnaround if they are to finish inside the top four — a task that looks increasingly difficult. Last time, Nepal somehow finished in the top three and retained their ODI status, thanks to extraordinary batting performances and eight home wins. But you can’t be playing catch-up every single time, can you?

Nepal are likely to play their next ODI tri-series next year, following the upcoming T20 World Cup. With the World Cup being the immediate priority, it will be interesting to see how CAN schedules the Jay Trophy (Nepal’s red-ball tournament) and the PM Cup (50-over tournament).

Without regular 50-over cricket under their belt, the players have struggled to adapt to the format. Their last ODI series was back in early June. Calls have been growing to form separate squads for the two formats. However, with Nepal’s limited talent pool, it remains challenging to field two distinct yet competitive teams. Still, a few players are knocking on the door after promising performances at the domestic level. Whether they can deliver on the international stage will only be known once they get opportunities.

While giving established players a longer rope is important from a fairness and security standpoint, it’s equally crucial to reward consistent domestic performers. Apart from the Scotland series — where they secured three wins — Nepal have failed to win more than one match in a series, including three losses out of four games at home at the start of this current cycle. They will be hoping for a much better showing on home turf in the next series.

The top four teams at the end of this cycle will advance to the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, while the bottom four will have to compete in the Qualifier Play-off. The top four teams from that tournament will then progress to the main Qualifiers. As of now, it’s not confirmed whether the teams finishing fifth and sixth will retain ODI status, though the general belief is that the top six will.

Whether Nepal finishes inside the top six or not, only time will tell. But the immediate focus must be on improving their one-day performances. After all, Nepal’s long-standing dream is to play in the One-Day World Cup. They haven’t come close yet. The 2007 World Cup was arguably the best opportunity for most Associate nations, with six Associates making it into the 16-team event — the last edition with that format. Although the ICC has now expanded the World Cup to 14 teams, with 12 Test nations already in the mix, it remains extremely difficult for Associates to qualify. Still, as the Netherlands showed by edging out Test nations like Zimbabwe and the West Indies in the last edition, it’s not impossible.