Bibek Kumar Yadav: Dreams and destiny

 

Bibek Kumar Yadav is a cricketer who plays for the Nepal national team. The 20-year-old first came into the limelight when he was picked in the Twenty20 International squad in 2022. The right-hand batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler has now secured a spot to play in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. 

Yadav never dreamed about being a cricketer. He wasn’t even into the sport as a child. But things changed when schools shut down after the 2015 earthquakes. Yadav returned to his hometown, Rajbiraj, and started playing cricket when he was bored. He realized he actually enjoyed it and also had a natural flair for the game. 

Seeing him play well, one of his brothers took him to a cricket academy. Since there were way too many seniors there, Yadav didn’t get enough chances to bat. He would sneak away and play with his friends instead. That is how he practiced batting. Yadav admired Paras Khadka, who was the captain of the Nepali Cricket team from 2008 to 2019 and wanted to be as good as him. “I always tried to imitate his batting style,” says Yadav. 

In the eight years since he first picked up a cricket bat, he believes he has achieved a lot. He was ecstatic to have been selected for the national team. He didn’t make it on the first try and even thought of leaving cricket and studying engineering. He is glad he didn’t take that route.

In 2019, he made his debut in the Nepal national under-19 cricket team during a match in Hyderabad, India. In 2020, he earned the title of ‘Emerging Player’ in the PM Cup National tournament. It gave him the needed exposure to go on to play in various domestic and international matches. He has also been a regular player for the Madhesh Province Cricket Team in domestic cricket. 

After the lockdown, he participated in the Asia Youth Cup U-19 in the UAE. His impressive performances earned him a promotion to the senior team and he was later selected for Nepal’s Twenty20 International (T20I) team. In 2022, Yadav made his T20I debut against Oman.

Yadav’s breakthrough moment was when he took his first international wicket against Zeeshan Maqsood, the Pakistan-born cricketer who plays for the Oman national team and is also its captain, in the ICC T20 World Cup qualifier match against Oman. Before that, five sixes in various league matches had already earned him a steady fan base. 

But in the world of sports, his achievements don’t amount to much, he says. He still has a long way to go and a lot of hard work to do. His father, a volleyball player at the local level, always wanted to be a cricketer or a national-level sports player. Yadav says his father is now reliving his dream through his son. “My father is also my biggest supporter and motivates me to practice and give it my best,” says Yadav. 

Yadav says AB de Villiers, former South African cricketer, is his idol. He wanted his national team jersey number to be 17, just like de Villiers. When he couldn’t get that number, he settled for 71, the reverse of 17. He wishes he could have had the chance to play with de Villiers and laments that dream might never come true. 

His biggest setback to date was when he suffered a knee injury during a match in Kenya. It took him almost five months to recover. He says constant injuries, pain, and recovery are all a part of a sportsman’s journey but it can be tough to stay motivated and upbeat when everyone else is on the field. “I used to watch Indian cricketer Virat Kohli’s recovery videos for motivation,” he says, adding his family and friends have been huge support systems throughout the ups and downs. “Meditating before a match also helps me stay calm,” he says. 

Yadav doesn’t believe that a career in cricket in Nepal isn’t stable and lucrative. He says the landscape of cricket in Nepal is about to change and urges those with a passion for the game to keep practicing. Things, he says, are about to get bigger and better.

Having recently competed in T20 and ODI matches, Yadav dreams of playing in test matches in the future. With 14 matches under his belt, he says, “Cricket, for me, goes beyond batting and bowling. It makes me a better human being, fostering resilience, discipline, and ambition. The field is my classroom, and every ball is a lesson.”