Team Nepal begins its World T20 campaign on Friday, taking on Denmark in the ICC World T20 Qualifiers at the GCA 2, Dubai.
The European opponent may not be a big threat to Nepal, if you consider their performance for past couple of years. However, the road to the World Cup is still a big challenge to Nepal.
Unlike Nepal, which is considered as a strong contender, Denmark is rated as one of the weakest sides of the group. In the same tournament held last year, Denmark had finished at the bottom of table in the 16-team contest.
Then, Nepal had defeated Denmark by nine wickets with a sensational hat-trick from spinner Shakti Gauchan. It was the first ever international hat-trick for a Nepali player and a debut match in International Cricket Council´s (ICC´s) T20 format.
With four wickets from Gauchan, Nepal had bowled out Denmark for 91 runs in 19.1 over and achieved target in the 12.4 over. Nepal, the lowest ranked team of the tournament then, had finished in seventh position. As per the new format of ICC, the top six teams of the tournament will qualify for the World T20 to be held next year in Bangladesh.
Captains playing in the World T20 Qualifiers in UAE
Nepal´s dream to World T20 is not unrealistic, given the format and Nepal’s recent performance. In the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 held last year in Malaysia, Nepal had achieved a comfortable win over the same opponent with a century from Anil Mandal. But there is slim chance that Mandal would be included as an opener. If he does get included in playing XI, he would come in a middle order, Nepal´s Sri Lankan coach Pubudu Dassanayake has clarified.
But Mandal has emerged as a strong substitute for openers after Nepal´s both openers — Pradeep Airee and Subash Khakurel — as both failed to live upto the expectation during warm-up matches played against the UAE, the host, and the USA.
Nepal defeated the UAE and lost to the USA. Openers Airee and Khakurel failed to remain on the crease for four overs, on both occasions. Airee was out in the very first ball against the UAE and managed only six runs against the USA. Khakurel scored 14 against the UAE and three against the USA.
Meanwhile, the Danish team was defeated by a huge margin in both warm-up matches. Hong Kong had defeated Denmark by 140 runs and the UAE had defeated it by six wickets.
Denmark managed to make 90 runs against the UAE while Nepal had defeated the UAE by five wickets, chasing a target of 139 runs. Along with Denmark, Nepal is pitted along side with Afghanistan, Scotland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya and Bermuda in Group B.
Nepal is scheduled to play against Kenya, one of the four teams in Group B with ODI status, on Saturday. Aware of other team´s preparation, coach Dassanayake said, “All the teams have made sound preparation. But important part is how we start the tournament. We take one game at a time, and hope for a winning start in the qualifiers.”
Nepal´s primary target is to be focused against Denmark and Kenya. Despite, the ODI status of Kenya, Nepal has defeated them in the last edition of the tournament by five wickets. Kenya had finished the tournament on the ninth position, two behind Nepal.