Naresh Budhayer, 25 years old is a right handed batsman and a right arm off break bowler. Naresh was born on 15th October, 1991 in Kanchanpur, Mahendranagar. He had represented Nepal, Nepal U-21, played Nepal Premier League (NPL) from Jagdamba Gaints in 2014, currently at Nepal Army Club and Region No. 6. Naresh Budhayer didn’t played any age level games from Nepal but got directly selected into the Senior Nepal Cricket Team for his performance at the domestic level but later he had played. He debuted against Bahrain in November 2009 in ACC Twenty20 Cup. In U-19, Naresh was the top scorer for Nepal and made 232 runs in the world cup selection tournament. He had shown his talent in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup scoring 121 runs at an average of 121.00. Budhayer also played a century innings in New Zealand in the warm-up match of U-19 World Cup in 2012 but unfortunately Nepal lost the match. Naresh was also selected by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in England in its Special Youth Program and was trained. Naresh Budhayer is also the part of Nepal team when Nepal played T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2014. Currently he is in Toronto, Canada playing for Bloomfield Cricket Club which was offered by former Nepal Coach Pubudu Dassanayake.
In an exclusive conversation with Letzcricket.com, here are the few questions that Naresh answered:
Q. Who had send you and for what purpose you stayed so long in Canada? When you will return?
A. Cricket Player Association of Nepal (CPAN) had sended me here and I was offered by Pubudu sir, to play and to coach the U-15 team. I will return by November.
Q. You missed EPL, do you regret about this or feels lucky to be there and learn something new?
A. Yes, I missed EPL but I don’t feel regret because I cannot be at two places at the same time, so why to regret. I feel lucky to play here in Canada…and yeah I have got the chance to play with other different teams and learned so many new things. I am sure it will help me in near future.
Q. You were part of Nepal’s World Cup T20 back in 2014, what was the early thought process like?
A. Being a part in itself was an amazing experience and I too had thought like everyone that I will play well at this big level and was excited to learn more from International games.
Q. Why did you decide to shift to Nepal Army Club from Region No. 6? Don’t you think Regions should be made stronger too?
A. I feel that, “My career will be much more secured in Nepal Army Club than Region No. 6” and I had got job there as well. Yes, regions also should be made stronger but also we need to give chances to new young talents to play from regions. It is all about rotation because I too wouldn’t have played cricket from Region No. 6, if someone had not left for better opportunities.
Q. Going back to 2014 T20 WC, what did Nepal Cricket Team learn about?
A. We learned about unity, teamwork, how much more effort we need at this level, how to handle the pressure and be calm at different situations and learned mostly by watching other country players, also learned to build partnership and to play according to game plans.
Q. Is it true that, “Your Mom visits the ground just to watch you bat, even in the local tournaments?”
A. Yeah, she visits (smiles) but sometimes.
Q. How do you see your career going on from here?
A. Talking about my career, I am doing well right now but I have a lot to prove myself and still have to do more hard work.
Q. What are some of your superstitions before going in to bat?
A. Hmm…actually, I don’t believe in such things. I just believe, “If I will work hard in the nets then I will surely do well.”
Q. How best could one describe Paras Khakda?
A. You never will find a man like Paras Dai, I believe he is the most patriotic person and will always be. Paras Dai vision is so much clear that he always wants his country to be developed either from sports or any means.
Q. Any message for Nepal Womens Cricket Team members? And for Nepalese Cricket lovers?
A. Congratulations for making the Nation Proud, practice more & more for the Asia Cup and Best of Luck. Keep supporting us in our good time but mostly in bad times, Keep loving Nepali Cricket.
Thank You Naresh Budhayer and wish you all the best for future games. Keep making Nation proud.