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‘It felt like a home ground’: Nepal pacer reflects after narrow loss to England | Cricket News

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'It felt like a home ground': Nepal pacer reflects after narrow loss to England
Nepal’s Sher Malla, second right, celebrates with teammates (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Mumbai: After Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Nepal seems to be the latest South Asian country bitten by the cricket bug. Matching two-time world champions England shot for shot and ball for ball, Nepal came just four runs short while chasing 185 on Sunday in their T20 World Cup opener against England at the Wankhede Stadium.

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In fact, they were always in the hunt till the very last ball, with skipper Dipendra Singh Airee (44), Rohit Paudel (39), Bam (39) and Kushal Bhurtel (29) going hammer and tongs on a pitch that India’s batters, minus skipper Suryakumar Yadav, had found tricky the night before. Relishing Nepal’s laudable show at the Wankhede was their former head coach (from 2023 to Feb 2025 — a phase in which they qualified for the Asia Cup that year and the 2024 T20 World Cup), Monty Desai, who will follow his ‘boys’ for all their T20 World Cup matches in Mumbai. Desai, also the former batting coach of West Indies, has a fair idea about the emerging talent in Nepal cricket, which he feels needs “well-designed programmes and better infrastructure.” “Nepal has a lot of raw talent that needs polishing through well-designed programmes and better infrastructure. Not many would have expected Nepal to put up such a batting show against a formidable side like England yesterday. But these are Asian conditions, and Nepali batters play spin very well. From a batter’s perspective, it seems they’ve also worked hard to compete against bowlers with significantly higher pace,” Desai told TOI. One thing impressive about Nepal’s spirited chase was their batsmen’s ability to launch the big hits against England’s world-class bowlers with ridiculous ease. “They may not always look traditionally attractive on the eye, with classical cover drives as an example, but they are effective — they know when to find boundaries and clear the ropes. There is raw power and belief in this group. What they need is constant exposure, something they’ve been able to achieve consistently over the last three years, including through hard-fought World Cup qualification campaigns,” Desai explained. Not only was their performance, which gave England a mighty scare, extraordinary, their numerous fans, who have arrived in Mumbai to cheer for their team from all over the world and not just Kathmandu, have added a refreshingly new colour and flair to the tournament. The 17,000-strong crowd at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday was dominated by their fans, clad in blue jerseys with a dash of red. Hailing their fans who backed their team to get over the line, seamer Nandan Yadav, who bowled impressively to take two for 25, said, “That’s the love of our crowd. They always support us. Wherever we go, it feels like a home ground for us. I’m really thankful for that — to all the supporters. I want to say sorry for the result, but we will improve. The crowd is amazing. They love cricket and the atmosphere,” he said. An associate nation, Nepal is clearly a rising star in world cricket. With the desire of playing Test cricket, CAN have also launched a three-day domestic tournament and have asked the ICC to give it first-class status. However, Nandan admitted that their domestic red-ball setup has to improve. “We need to improve our domestic circuit, red-ball cricket and everything which we don’t have right now. So it’s a dream for me as well to become a Test nation. But yeah, it’s a tough job to do now, I think,” Nandan said. Nandan said the fact that Nepal gave a reputed side like England a run for their money is a matter of pride and that the side will improve from this experience. “There is regret because we came very close and couldn’t get over the line, but at the same time there is pride because we are competing against very strong teams like England. Being that close shows we are improving, so overall it’s a mix of pride and regret,” he said. Nepal were left regretting the fact that they conceded 45 runs in the last three overs, as Will Jacks (39 off 21 balls) went berserk. Nandan confessed Nepal need to improve their death-overs bowling. “For me personally, there is a lot of talk about my wide balls, so that’s something I need to work on. As a bowling unit, we need to focus more on death overs,” he said. Nandan said that despite the defeat, Nepal were still hopeful of a Super 8 berth. “We’ve only played our first game so far and it was very close, so we are not really behind in the Super 8 race. I think we still have a good chance of making the Super 8.”

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Does Project X’s new Titan shaft signal a new trend in shaft design?

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Over the last several years, Fujikura’s Ventus line of shafts has cornered the driver shaft market by helping players find the center of the face.

But with more and more players opting for drivers with more forgiving and efficient driver faces, is finding a shaft that gives you more clubhead speed now more important?

That’s what Fully Equipped co-hosts Johnny Wunder and Jake Morrow discussed on this week’s episode of the show, as Jake shared his first impressions testing the shaft.

“It felt like to me you had to be super late before you started to move your wrists forward or started to do any movement basically towards impact, which for me is not good at all, but it’s really great for people that want to generate speed and guys that are super, super wide and laggy,” Morrow said. “When I was able to do that and time it up properly and produce that swing, it was fast. I mean, it was like a good 1.5, almost 2 mph on some swings, faster. Clubhead speed.”

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Morrow was surprised the shaft felt so tight in the handle, saying it was stiffer at the top than even the new Ventus TR Blue with VeloCore+. Part of that may have been how he prepped the shaft by tipping it one inch and butt cutting to 45″.

“I think that bump in the EI curve moves up significantly once you cut the shaft,” Morrow said. “So I don’t know that the handle itself is actually super tight, or if the midsection transition is just way further up than you would think it is. And by the time you grip it and you put your hands on it, where that stiffness actually falls is so close to the hands that I think that’s what’s happening.”

Wunder said he’d heard similar feedback from Tour reps and that for the right player, they were getting swing speed gains out of the new shaft.

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With driver heads being so good now, Wunder pointed out that it could be shafts like the new Titan that end up being where the next frontier of speeds come from.

“The only way to really crack speed to separate them is with a shaft that you swing faster,” he said.

For more from Morrow and co-host Johnny Wunder, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.

Want to find the best golf shaft for your game in 2026? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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‘Real Housewives’ alum Jill Zarin criticizes Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance 

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Real Housewives alum Jill Zarin has criticized Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime show performance. The Puerto Rican rapper created history as he became the first Latin artist to perform solo at the Super Bowl Halftime show.

Speaking on Instagram after Bunny’s performance, Jill Zarin expressed her dissatisfaction with the halftime show. He said:

“Now, we all agree. I said it before that, it was the worst halftime show ever, and it’s 250 years that we’re celebrating right now in the United States, and I just don’t think it was appropriate to have it in Spanish. And quite frankly, I didn’t see him grabbing his you know, G area. I think it was totally inappropriate. You’ve got all these young kids watching the Super Bowl, and he doesn’t have to be grabbing himself every five seconds. Is he so insecure?”

Zarin added:

“Seriously, I didn’t understand. I don’t speak Spanish. I would have liked to have known the words he was saying to me. It looked like a political statement, because there were literally no white people in the entire thing. I think it was a political statement, and I’m not taking a side one way the other. I just do.”

Zarin also alleged that Bad Bunny’s performance was an “ICE thing” and criticized Lady Gaga, who made a special appearance during the halftime show. She added:

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“I think it was an ICE thing. And I just think that the NFL sold out. And it’s very sad, because 75 years and, you know, shame, shame. And Lady Gaga got a facelift. I didn’t recognize her. I literally had to google her face to Google her face to see who it was, because we all couldn’t agree who it was. So that was kind of fun in the middle of halftime, at least it gave me something to do, because it was so hard to watch.”

Despite the controversial response, Bad Bunny‘s Super Bowl halftime show has garnered over 135 million views. The rapper created history as he delivered the halftime show in complete Spanish. In the end, the performance also delivered a message about the only thing being stronger than “hate” is “love”, allegedly interpreted as a message against ICE and Trump’s immigration policy.


Former Real Housewives star Taylor Armstrong opens up on Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime show

Super Bowl LX: New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks - Source: GettySuper Bowl LX: New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks - Source: Getty
Super Bowl LX: New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks – Source: Getty

In an Instagram story dated February 8, Taylor Armstrong also criticized Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime show, since it was completely in Spanish and featured a Cuban flag. She wrote:

“Were you entertained? I am embarrassed for the NFL and Apple for the Super Bowl halftime show totally in Spanish with a Cuban flag!!”

Apart from the Real Housewives and multiple other celebrities, President Donald Trump also expressed his dissatisfaction about the Super Bowl Halftime show. He described Bunny’s dancing as “disgusting” and called the performance “absolutely terrible” and “one of the worst, EVER.”

Apart from Bad Bunny’s headlining show, many other artists also made guest appearances during the performance. There was a set including Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba, and Alix Earle. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars performed a salsa version of their hit track, Die With A Smile. Ricky Martin also took the stage to perform Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii.

Earlier this month, Bad Bunny also became the first Latin artist to win the Album of the Year at the Grammys. His album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, became the first Spanish-language album to win the honor.

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