Nepal awaits its biggest challenge in the group stage of ICC World Twenty20, playing against host Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Tuesday. Bangladesh is the only Test playing nation of group A. This is Nepal’s first encounter against the Test playing team.
Both the sides started their campaign on Saturday with resounding victories. Nepal overcame Hong Kong by 80 runs and Bangladesh edged past Afghanistan by nine wickets. A victory to either of the team will strengthen their bid to move to the next round.
Nepali team practicing, a before the match against Bangladesh at World T20.
Playing against a test playing side, Nepal is an underdog. But Nepal’s skipper Paras Khadka does not seem much bothered about the result while Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is no mood to underestimate Nepal.
“We are not much worried about the result. We are here to play good cricket and continue what we did yesterday. The match against Bangladesh is a big opportunity more than pressure for us to play with Test playing side. It will be a new beginning and new challenge,” Paras said.
Predicting that any outcome could be expected in T20, Bangladesh skipper Rahim commented that his side would leave no stone unturned to achieve result in its favour. “Whoever plays better in those three hours is going to win so we will really take them seriously. Nepal played really well yesterday and achieved big win.”
“Hopefully our boys will come up again and we will try our level best to win tomorrow. We will do exactly the same as that against Afghanistan.”
He also said that his side has knowledge about Team Nepal. ‘We have recently watched a couple of video footages of the Qualifiers and also saw the warm-up match in Fatullah. We saw how many bowlers and batsmen they have. We will devise a good plan against them,” said Rahim.
Though the host will have home team and home ground advantage, Rahim came up with different view about the pitch of Chittagong. “Although we are home team, Nepal knows the condition better than us because we have not played any game here.” Bangladesh had defeated Afghanistan at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. He also opined that the huge crowd will motivate his side to play better.
Nepal’s skipper Paras said that victory in the first match over Hong Kong has brought a lot of positives to his team. “We are here not just for the sake of participation and are trying to push forward to the best what we can do tomorrow. Everybody is keen to do their best. In the T20 format, you have to play better in whole 40 overs.”
Nepal skipper Paras Khadka at the pre-match press conference, in Chittagong. March 17, 2014.
Paras however, rated Bangladesh as favorite in the group. “In comparison, Bangladesh is favorite. But it is the game of bat and ball, we will stick to our basics and our strength. We will play the match for the team, for ourselves and supporters back home.”
Leaving a few cases including the Hong Kong encounter, Nepali openers have flopped at the international stage. The opening partnership of Subash Khakurel and Sagar Pun will be vital in shaping the fate of the match to some extent. Similarly, the spinner-friendly grassy wicket will be advantage for off-arm spinners Sagar and Paras and left-arm spinners Basanta Regmi and Shakti Gauchan. Basanta and Shakti had claimed three wickets apiece in its 80-run win over Hong Kong.
Bangladesh also has very good spinners in their side and has experience of playing spinners. Additionally, they have the advantage of experience. So before the match, Bangladesh can be called favorites. However, Nepali fans would be hoping otherwise.
The match will begin at 19:15 NST.