Nepal Cricket Team (Photo Source: Nepalkhabar/Twitter)
After a lot of drama and tension regarding the future of the Asian competition, the Asian Cricket Council has confirmed that the tournament will begin on August 30 in Pakistan and will soon move to Sri Lanka for the remainder of the tournament. Nepal, who did remarkably well in the last couple of years, have finally qualified for the intercontinental cup and will begin their campaign on August 30 against the Babar Azam-led side.
Recently, the team won the ACC Men’s Premier Cup and has shown a lot of promise on the international stage. They have defeated the likes of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Oman, among many other teams in recent times, but their performance in the recently concluded ODI World Cup Qualifier has been pretty disappointing and thus, they will hope to bounce back in the Asia Cup.
Currently the team is currently competing in ACC Men’s Emerging Cup, where they have recently defeated United Emirates A by three wickets. They will be aiming to keep up the momentum and throw a proper challenge to the heavyweights of Asia.
After the Pakistan game, Nepal will be playing against India on September 4 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. If they manage to finish in the top two in their group, the team will be qualifying for the Super 4. From there, the Rohit Paudel-led side will be expected to finish in the top two in order to qualify for the all-important final, which is slated to take place on September 17.
Meanwhile, the team will depend a lot on their spinners. Sandeep Lamichhane will be really important for the side as he has some experience under his belt playing against the top cricketers in Asia. When it comes to batting, they have the quality, but the 50-over format may prove to be a bit difficult against quality opponents in the form of Pakistan and India.
Nepal Complete Schedule for Asia Cup 2023:
Matches
Date
Time
Venue
1
PAK vs NEP
August 30
1:30 PM
Multan, Pakistan
2
IND vs NEP
September 4
1:30 PM
Kandy, Sri Lanka