Players making their Asia Cup debut On Monday, Nepal and India will meet in Pallekele in the last Group A encounter, with the winner advancing to the Super Four stage of the 50-over event.
Nepalese captain Rohit Paudel expressed excitement about the “big opportunity” of playing India in the Asia Cup on Sunday, saying that his team members would be eager to meet their heroes if given the chance. Nepal, playing in their first Asia Cup, will face India in the group’s last match on Monday in Pallekele. The winner of this match will advance to the Super Four round of the 50-over event and earn a berth in the 2018 ODI World Cup.
Nepal, who made headlines by qualifying for the World Cup earlier this year, was blown out by Pakistan in the first game of the tournament.
After having their opening match against Pakistan called off after the first innings owing to rain, they now face another challenging matchup against the seven-time Asia Cup champions, India.
There’s a good chance of wet weather in the Nepal-India match, with the victor moving on to face Pakistan. If the points are discussed, India will make progress.
We are all quite pumped to be playing India. Paudel, a top-order batsman, told reporters, “It is a big opportunity for all of us to represent our country on the biggest stage.”
There’s nothing we can do about the weather, but we’d love to play India and show off our skills.
Paudel claimed his team would only allow themselves “a fanboy moment” when the match was done, despite the fact that they would be playing against top personalities like Indian captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Sandeep Lamichhane, his top leg-spinner, gave up runs in the team’s 238-run loss to Pakistan, but he stood by his player.
Paudel referred to him as “a very important player for us” since he “delivered in crunch situations.” We would not be here without him…he is a game-changer for us.
Lamichhane, 23, was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl in a hotel room in Kathmandu in August of last year, but his trial was postponed, so he didn’t make it to the team in time for the Asia Cup.
Lamichhane refutes all allegations.
After their encounter on Saturday, India did not practice or have a press conference.
