We let ourselves down with the bat: Rohit Paudel

Nepal were playing Pakistan in their first-ever Asia Cup appearance at Multan, but they had left the beginner’s luck behind in Kathmandu. They were defeated comprehensively by a buoyant Pakistan team, who exposed the huge gulf between the two sides in all three departments. 

Rohit Paudel, the premier batter of his national side, was given the captaincy during a major transition period for Nepal cricket. The retirements of veterans like Paras Khadka and Gyanendra Malla had left a huge void to fill for the team. However, Rohit performed his duties well, as Nepal qualified for the Asia Cup after winning the ACC Men’s Premier Cup. 

Things didn’t turn out as good as that for the newbies on the big stage, as Nepal got bundled out for 104 in just 23.4 overs in their first game at the Asia Cup, 2023. During the post-match presentation, Paudel remarked -

“We have batted well before and we missed out today. We let ourselves down with the bat….As a group, we need to step up with the bat.”

He wasn’t being harsh while criticising his batters. Only three out of the eleven batters could cross into double digits, and the remaining (including Paudel) couldn’t withstand the searing heat from Pakistani bowlers. The partnership between Aarif Sheikh and Sompal Kami was the only 50+ partnership in the entire Nepalese innings. 

Nepal was much better with the ball in the first innings, where they only gave 139 runs in the first 30 overs and also took 4 Pakistani wickets. However, their game plans crumbled as Iftikhar and Babar started accelerating, and they ended up giving more than 200 runs in the last 20 overs. 

Their fielding was poor as they leaked runs at regular intervals in the field. Paudel wasn’t impressed at all with such capitulation. 

“We started well with the ball, but both the set batters took the game away from us…Wicket-taking balls were missing in the middle overs...We need to improve bowling in the death overs”, he said in the post-match presentation. 

Things don’t look any easy for the Monty Desai-coached team, as they will face India next at Pallekele on the 4th of September. Rohit Paudel would hope that his team would be able to put on a decent performance against Rohit Sharma’s side and prove to the cricketing world that they are here to stay at this level.