Nepal Aims for Competitive Asia Cup

Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel claimed that his team is capable of making the opposition like India and Pakistan run for their money in the Asia Cup 2023, which starts on Wednesday.

Nepal might be the lowest-ranked team in the Asia Cup 2023, but they are confident of giving tough competition to cricketing giants. Nepal will make their Asia Cup debut on Wednesday when they take on Pakistan in the tournament opener in a Group A game in Multan. They will play India on September 4 in Kandy.

"We are playing for the first time, and it's a big achievement for all of us. Pakistan is a very good side, and we want to give a competitive game to them, as well as India. So, we deserve to be here," Paudel said during the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

When asked what the biggest difference between both teams, Paudel said that aside from experience there isn't much difference between his team and Pakistan.

"The difference would be the experience. If you count on skills, both batting and bowling are the same (for both sides). But, if you count on experience, Pakistan is an experienced side. Both the teams have world-class bowlers and batsmen. Our focus is to win one ball (at a time), regardless of who the opponent is," added Paudel.

This will be Nepal’s debut in the tournament. They qualified by winning the inaugural ACC Men’s Premier Cup 2023, where they overcame the United Arab Emirates in the final by seven wickets.

Paudel acknowledged that there are great expectations for the two competitions, but praised them for serving as good platforms for the Asia Cup training.

"We had some good preparations. We played in Zimbabwe (ICC World Cup Qualifiers) and the Emerging Asia Cup. So, we are well-prepared. There have been a lot of expectations from us. All Nepalese have been dreaming for this Asia Cup. We have been playing for more than two decades, and it's a great opportunity to represent our country at the highest level, especially in Asia Cup. So, it's a big occasion for all of us," he concluded.

The 2023 Asia Cup will be co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the two hosts will be joined by Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal for the 16th edition of the event.