Follow Us21-year-old Rohit Paudel is leading Nepal in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Understandably, this was a big moment for the Nepal batter - whose team have risen to become a force to be reckoned with in associate cricket and even participated in the last Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka.
Despite losing the first game to the Netherlands by six wickets, they are determined to make a comeback against Sri Lanka in Florida. The Wanindu Hasaranga-led side are struggling bigtime in the ongoing World Cup, having lost both of their encounters, and Paudel is confident of having a crack at them.
“Sri Lanka has very good spinners who play all over the world. So as a bowling unit, I think they are doing good. So basically, we need to tackle that part and after that, I think all the 20 teams are equally balanced and yeah, just go and express ourselves. We want to go tomorrow and showcase our talent in front of the world,” Paudel said in the pre-match press conference.
“If you see in this World Cup, you'll see that the associate team is beating test playing countries. It is a motivation for all of us, especially moving forward to tomorrow's game. So as a team, we believe that we are going to win tomorrow and the way we have been preparing for the last couple of months and the way we have been playing cricket for the last one and a half years, I think the belief is always there in the team and we are looking forward to tomorrow's game.”
Nepal last played their match on June 4 and got a week’s break before their second match against the Netherlands. In the meantime, they had multiple practice sessions in Florida to be well-prepared for the Sri Lanka clash.
“I think the gap is very good, especially to prepare ourselves, especially after we lost against Netherlands. So, I think that gap is very helpful for us, especially in preparing and adapting to this situation and I believe that we have utilized three - four net sessions here and we are very well prepared for tomorrow's game,” the 21-year-old said.
The biggest talking point in this World Cup has been the way wickets have behaved. The drop-in pitches didn’t play as expected in this event - with even ICC being forced to apologise for the New York pitch. Paudel acknowledged that and stated that 140 seems like a winning score.
“Scoring runs is becoming harder due to drop-in pitches and conditions. The conditions in New York and Dallas are different from that in Florida. Florida has hosted the India-West Indies game previously. So, I think the conditions then and now are different and in the 2-3 days we practiced, the wickets looked good.
“If we respect the conditions and present our skills, we can beat any team. The team believes that. We are very confident for tomorrow, If you look at this tournament, there have been many ups and downs.
“So, the team believes, and more than us, as a team, the pressure is on the Test-playing nation. We will utilize the pressure; create the pressure and we want to win the game tomorrow. So, if we do the basic things right, I think we are ahead.”
Paudel further calls for patience in their supporters, citing the example of Afghanistan’s rise as a cricketing nation. Paudel believes that with time, Nepal can start producing strong results against better teams.
“I think it's very important to trust the team. Because as a team, if we don't trust each other, we won't get the result. Especially in this condition, we need to be patient. Because even if we don't get the results we want, I don't think it's necessary to change anything.
“Afghanistan's situation has grown since 2014 and they are creating strong results. Before that, in 2015, 2016, and 2017, they didn't have the results they were hoping for. But still, they haven't made any drastic changes. So, I think patience is very important. And that belief and trust in the team is very important. As a team, we believe in each other and we are looking forward to it,” the skipper added.
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