The year 1988, when the first ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup came into action which was hosted by Australia, the Cup of youths which mean a lot to all the participating nations. Back then, Nepal was not influenced by the brand of cricket which they now play with their full enthusiasm and determination. In 1998, almost after 10 years; once again the World Cup for youths was organized and mighty Nepal was able to take part in the qualification round though Nepal didn’t qualify and was not eligible for this big ICC event.
Nepal had started to accelerate and was playing ACC U-19 Elite Cup in the year of 1997 and was placed 4th position, which was a great boost-up for the young boys. U-19 Elite Cup is played in every 2 years and back then Nepal were on top of their game and claimed their maiden title in 2001 and never stood back to hold the trophy till becoming four time champions on 2007 and was Nepal U-19s fourth title in a row. Those young talents were ruling everywhere in Asia and really were on the eye of ICC.
Nepal qualified for U19 world cup in 2000 and secured 8th position in the tournament. The tournament wasn’t one of the better ones because of the rain affected matches. In 2002, Nepal had superior chance of defending thePlate Championship by reaching the final of Plate Championship of the ICC Under-19 World Cup but ended up being Runner-ups. In 2004, Nepal U-19s were not able to make through the Super League stages but did not lose hope to do better as they defeated South Africa in the group stages.
(After some time Nepal U-19 was called the Dark Horse in ICC events)
Dark Horses were on their way in 2006, yet again qualified for U-19 World Cup which was hosted by Sri Lanka and this event was really exciting and unforgettable for every Nepali cricket fans as well as for the boys who were serving their nation. The favorites, the big cricketing Giants were on the mood to thrash every team to defend the title but they never knew, some exciting matches were to be played who shook the cricketing world in 2006. However, Nepal did qualify for the Plate Championship Quarter Finals and were able to defend plate championship later on. On the verge of claiming the title, Dark Horse played some really good brand of cricket to taste sweet and memorable victory by 1 wicket against New Zealand in the plate championship final playing against some of the big names including Martin Guptill, Tim Southee and Colin Munro. Nepal defeated the side captained by Eoin Morgan representing Ireland who later on turned out to be the England ODI captain.
Nepal U-19s are making whole nation proud by playing some good cricket till now in every ICC events. The young talents are playing ICC Asia Under-19s World Cup Qualifier at Singapore to carry on the legacy of being the Dark Horse and to pursue the dream of winning World Cup for their nation which every youngster starts to dream off.
Today was the day to qualify for the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup but Nepal U-19s and the fans were unfortunate to see the defeat and won’t be able to take part in upcoming U-19 Cricket World Cup hosted by New Zealand. Nepal U-19s will not lose hope and will overcome more stronger and tough for next big tournament.