The Nepal vs West Indies T20I series will kickoff on September 27.
Stuart Law, the head coach of the Nepal cricket team, recently revealed in an interview that the team has been given a nickname as “the cardiac kids.” But what is the reason behind gaining this unconventional tag? Let’s find out.
In recent times, it has been proven that the Nepali players have a knack for taking the match till the final minutes and registering a nail-biting finish. Though, they have not always managed to secure a victory in these closely-fought contests, but have clearly been able to showcase a commendable grit and determination, to put up the fight in most of the matches, till the last ball bowled.
Nepal’s series of thrillers started in 2022, by defeating Papua New Guinea by two wickets with four balls remaining. This came four years later since they had snatched a miraculous one-run victory over the Netherlands in an ODI fixture in 2018. However, the number of such nail-biting 50-over finishes saw a rapid increase to five when they clinched four victories by three wickets and a nine-run win in 2023.
2024 also witnessed two of the closest wins of Nepal when they defeated Canada and Namibia, by just seven and three runs, in home ODI and T20I fixtures, respectively. Moreover, after Law’s appointment as the head coach in March 2025, the team once again brought up their final-over thrillers, especially during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 and the Scotland T20 tri-series.
Coming on the back of a three-run defeat while facing Kuwait in the Quadrangular T20 Series Final, Nepal won two matches by one wicket with one ball remaining and 16 runs and lost one by a mere two runs. Following this, the team also played another series of close-fought games in the subsequent tri-series, which featured the historic three super-over match that they ultimately lost to the Netherlands. But Nepal made a swift comeback to win consecutive matches in their own style, by two and six wickets, with one and two balls remaining in the clash, respectively.
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The former Australian batter and current head coach of Nepal had strictly conveyed to the team that he wants to brush off the unwanted nickname that has been put behind a passionate bunch of players, who are still finding their way to develop as an associate cricket nation.
“After that tour, I said, ‘Boys, we need to get rid of this tag. It’s no good.’ And they just laugh. I say, ‘Boys, it’s not funny.’ I would rather win easily than put yourself through the potential cardiac arrest. But it’s just what they do. It comes from their passion, it comes from their excitement,” he stated to The National.
However, while acknowledging the Nepali players’ spirit and hard work, Law has hoped the team to scale much greater heights in the future. Amidst the upcoming three T20Is against the West Indies, which will be the maiden bilateral 20-over series between the two teams, the coach is already looking ahead to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 qualifier. He also noted that the entire Nepal cricket fraternity, rising one step at a time, wants to become a Test-playing nation soon in the future.
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