Twenty20 World Cup not easy for transformed Nepal

With plenty of changes and heavy expectations on their shoulders, Nepal are at cricket's biggest stage again. 

More than 20 months since their last appearance in the Twenty20 World Cup, Nepal are still nursing the wounds inflicted in the US and the Caribbean. 

A decade after making their debut in the 2014 Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh, Nepal were within touching distance of producing an upset, one of the biggest had it been achieved, victory over South Africa only to lose to the eventual finalists in the last ball by one run in Kingstown.

Having lost the rain-interrupted opener to Netherlands in Dallas and the encounter against Sri Lanka in Florida washed out, Nepal impressed in the game against Bangladesh bundling out their south Asian neighbours for a mediocre106 runs. 

However, Nepal innings was shut down for just 85. The campaign was winless but the world was taken over.

The men in blue and red had the cricket world talking.  

"They now have experience across the World Cups. They are a functional team and disciplined in bowling. They are going to light up the World Cup," legend commentator Ian Bishop told the ICC just ahead of the tournament.

Bishop was particularly in awe of Nepal's fielding which he experienced first hand while commentating during the Nepal-West Indies three-match Twenty20 International Series in Sharjah last year.

"I don't think I can remember seeing a team so electrifying. My jaws nearly fell off. It seemed like everything that was hit in the air, they ran 20 yards and dived 10 yards to catch it," said Bishop about Nepal's brilliance in the field during the Sharjah series which they historically won 2-1.

But in the 2024 showpiece, Nepal were nowhere close to what Bishop would later go on to see in Sharjah.

The campaign in the American continent featured a few drop catches, misfields and easy catches made difficult.

Hard nut to crack

Despite all the blemishes and heartbreaks, the last World Cup campaign was nothing short of spectacular.

Set to appear in their third World Cup, Nepal are in a difficult Group 'C' that includes heavyweights England and West Indies alongside fellow Associates Scotland and Italy.

The campaign itself begins with their first ever face-off against England on February 8 in Mumbai's iconic Wankhede Stadium. Nepal are playing all their league games there. 

The Bangladeshi withdrawal, for all the unfortunate reasons, might have been a relief for Nepal and rest of the teams in the group but at the game's bigger stage, minnows just don't participate to make the numbers.

If England and West Indies are the favourites to qualify for Super 8 from the group, Scotland and Italy would also be challengers.

While Scotland have a history of upsetting big teams at the bigger stage, a revamped Italy -- in presence of cricketers with experience in Australian domestic cricket -- have already thrown down the gauntlet smashing Ireland and Canada in the build-up to the tournament.

A team in transition

Since facing Bangladesh in St Vincent, Nepal have played 24 Twenty20 Internationals in a span of 17 months and have won 16 of them. Notably, Nepal did not play a single home match during this period.

Among those fixtures were matches against two of their current group opponents. Nepal share a 1-1 head-to-head record with Scotland, while enjoying a historic moment against the West Indies.

The current West Indies team has only two players who were involved in the Series against Nepal in Sharjah.

Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh and Rohit Paudel — all expected to bat in Nepal’s top three in Mumbai — have been the leading run-scorers. 

Bhurtel tops the list with 702 runs at an average of 33.42, followed by Aasif with 553 runs and captain Rohit with 493 runs.

Star leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane has been the leading wicket taker with 29 scalps at an economy rate of 5.35. Sandeep is followed by Sompal Kami (20 wickets) and Lalit Rajbanshi (18 wickets).

With numerous changes from previous Twenty20 World Cup, it would not be wrong to say Nepal is a team in transition and in a state of transformation. 

Anil Sah, Kushal Malla, Sagar Dhakal, Abinash Bohara, Kamal Singh Airee and Pratish GC have made way for Aarif Sheikh, Basir Ahmad, Sher Malla, Nandan Yadav and Lokesh Bam.

Aarif was called up for his first World Cup after playing for his country for more than 12 years. Provided the opportunity, Basir along with Sher, Nandan and Lokesh might make their debut at the game's biggest stage.

Experienced campaigners Karan KC and Sompal are in the twilight of their career and could be playing their last Twenty20 World Cup, albeit Nepal gets comparatively better depth in their pace attack.

The exclusions of Abinash Bohora, joint leading wicket taker of Nepal Premier League and that tournament's consistent performer Binod Bhandari underlines the fact that Nepali think tank is now looking beyond the impending global showpiece.