After winning the three match ODI series impressively, Nepal now set their sight to win the three match T20 series to be played with the United Arab Emirates.
However, doing so is not going to be easy because the UAE batsmen are known to be big hitters of the cricket ball.
An example of their big hitting was seen in the last ODI match where they scored 154 runs in the last 16 overs. Even Paras Khadka and Sandeep Lamichhane, who are normally economical, went for runs. This is a reason why Nepali bowlers need to be tight if Nepal want to win back to back series against the UAE. If the bowlers miss their line and length, the UAE will surely capitalise on it.
However, the UAE who missed the experience of captain Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza and Rameez Shahzad will do so again in the T20 series. They have been banned after making critical comments on social media during the Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
Therefore, Mohammad Naveed will captain the team.
Talking about Nepal, they did a tremendous job bouncing back from defeat in the first game to win the series 2-1. This will surely give the team confidence in the upcoming T20 series.
Another reason why Nepal might have the edge in the series is that the players have been playing a lot of domestic T20 tournaments and most of the players have been included in the team based on their performances in the domestic tournaments.
Like in the ODI, Binod Bhandari might open with Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla. Both are big hitters in the shortest format along with young players like Sandeep Jora and Bhim Karki have also made a name for themselves in the recently concluded PPL and EPL.
But there is also talk of giving a chance to Pradeep Airee, who wasn’t given a chance to open during the ODI series.
Captain Khadka has been in good form with the bat as he scored a 156 run in the three ODI games. Karan KC has proved that he can take the game away from the opponent with this big hitting in the later overs. However, he hasn’t done so consistently.
When it comes to bowling, both strike bowlers Sompal Kami and Lamichhane look to be in good rhythm. KC and youngsters Lali Narayan Bhandari and Pawan Shraff will also look to shine in the upcoming series. To sum up, Nepal’s bowling looks a bit stronger than the UAE.
Even though Nepal won the ODI series, performance of some players was below par. Khadka, Kami, Lamichhanne, Rohit Paudel were the standout players in the ODI series. KC also performed well as he bowled good line and length. But players like Bhandari and Dipendra Singh Airee disappointed once again.
A lot was expected from Airee, but he only managed to score 16 runs in three games. The case of wicket keeper batsman Bhandari, who threw his wicket playing rash shots in all three games, was also same.
Sarki and Pradeep Airee who didn’t get a chance to play the ODIs might get a chance in the T20s.
Nepal’s past performance in T20 series has not been great. In the two series they have played, they have lost the both. They lost the three match T20 series against Hong Kong in 2014 1-0 after two matches were washed out due to rain.
In the recent series Nepal played against the Netherlands in 2018, they lost the four-match series 3-1 and were outplayed by the Netherlands.
The match will start at 2:45 PM.
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