It is not the home advantage that makes Nepal the favorite but rather the national squad’s performance in the last four international outings has given the team the title credentials.[break]
In the first two editions, Nepal couldn’t cross the group stage of the ACC T20 Cup. However, Nepal reached the semifinals in the third edition held in Kathmandu 16 months ago and has been improving ever since. That was the tournament which also heralded a change in Nepal’s playing style.
Reaching the semifinals also opened the gates for Nepal to participate in the World T20 qualifiers in which Nepal finished seventh. Then, Nepal clinched the titles of World Cricket League Division 4 and ACC Trophy Elite within one month to cement its status as the title favorite for the upcoming ACC T20 Cup.
“We have good chances of winning the ACC T20 Cup,” says skipper Paras Khadka.
“This tournament is also a great opportunity to improve our game. But this is T20, so we have to begin from scratch,” he added.
“We have worked quite hard as a team. We are optimistic that we will reap the reward for our endeavors,” said Khadka.
Khadka says the team is looking for nothing less than the title.
“We will be selected if we finish in the top two. But we will be playing for the title,” he said.
Showing his respect to the other teams, skipper Khadka said, “We will not take any opponent easily. We cannot predict anything about the opponents in T20.”
Coach Pubudu Dassayanake considers Nepal as the best among the 10 participating teams.
“I have full confidence in my team,” he said.
“We have to move toward global competitions from this tournament and then we are aiming to play the World Cup. We are qualified to play at that level too. Therefore, this tournament is vital for us as it is the beginning of our long journey,” added the coach.
The UAE will hosts the T20 World Cup qualifier and Afghanistan has qualified for the qualifiers of the World Cup. Besides the two, other top two teams from the ACC T20 Cup will qualify for the T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
Skipper Khadka is not taking the UAE and Afghanistan lightly and has ruled out possibility of exclusion of key players because they have already qualified.
“What they do is not our concern. We have to play our own way. Both the UAE and Afghanistan were there during the ACC Trophy Elite but we won the title. So we have to focus our attention on our team, not theirs,” he said.
“The only thing that should concern us is that T20 is a game played in a different format,” he added.
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