Kathmandu: That the biggest opportunity came for Nepsl in the Asia Cup 2023. Nepali senior team is playing against world most powerful cricket team India for the first time in its 27 years of international cricket history.Â
Nepal is going to play against world cricket star India in the 16th edition of Asia Cup jointly organized in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The match will be played at Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka at 3:30 PM IST. This is important for both of them because the team that wins this match will reach the Super Four.
The match against India, the number one team in Test and T20 formats, has become much awaited for Nepal. Despite being neighbours, Nepal had to wait for a long time to play with India.
This is a great opportunity for Nepali cricket to play with teams like India and Pakistan in the same edition of the Asia Cup for the first time.
Now Nepal is playing with legends like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on the field, whom we always watch on TV.
Nepal, who qualified for the Asia Cup after winning the ACC Premier Cup title, were drawn in Group ‘A’ along with India and Pakistan.
Nepal lost to Pakistan by a huge margin of 238 runs in the first match ware held at Multan on Wednesday.
Too many Nepalese cricket fans are excited to watch match between Nepal and India. Thousands of supporters and spectators have reached Sri Lanka to watch the match between Nepal and India.
A combination of captain and coach
Coincidentally, Rohit is the captain of both India and Nepal teams. Nepali captain Rohit Paudel’s idol is also Indian captain Rohit Sharma. Nepal’s captain Rohit had said before going to the Asia Cup that he was excited to play against the idol player.
Right from the toss before the game, this match will be Rohit vs Rohit. Rohit will win the toss and Rohit’s team will win the match. But we will have to wait for the toss and the game to know which Rohit will win.
Chief coach Monty Desai said that the Nepali team will enjoy it a lot as playing against India is a big deal for Nepal.
In this match, two Indian coaches Rahul Dravid and Monty are also face to face. At one time these two used to work together in the IPL team Rajasthan Royals. But on Monday, where Dravid will be the coach of India, Monty will be in the Nepalese team.
Earlier, when Monty was the batting consultant of Nepal, the Nepali Under-19 team had won a historic victory over the Indian Under-19 team. Dravid was the India Under-19 coach at that time.
Vinod Das was the coach of Nepal Under-19. Now Vinod Das is the Cricket Director of CAN and he is with Nepali team in Asia Cup.
Monty had said that he would sing the national anthems of both the countries before going to the Asia Cup.
Nepal plans to take advantage of the opportunity
Nepal is planning to use the opportunity to play against India for the first time. In case of defeat from India or cancellation of the match, Nepal will leave the group stage and return home. If Nepal gets an unexpected result, then India will be out of the group stage.
Bumrah will not play in today’s match against Nepal. According to Indian media, he returned to Mumbai for personal reasons. It is being said that he will go to Sri Lanka in the Super Four stage.
Nepal have learned a lesson in how to play against an experienced team after suffering a big defeat against Pakistan in Multan in the first match.
Chance of rain
There is also a possibility of rain in the match between Nepal and India. Earlier last Saturday, the match between India and Pakistan at the Pallekele ground was repeatedly affected by rain and both the teams shared points. Although India batted in the first innings, the second innings could not be played due to rain.
The match between Nepal and India is going to be played on that ground. But there is a possibility of the game being affected due to rain.
Meteorologists have predicted 80 percent rain on Monday.
If the match is canceled due to rain, then both the teams will share the points and India will reach the Super Four from Group ‘A’. Pakistan has already reached Super Four.
