Nepal Taking on England in ICC T20 World Cup

After a heartbreaking but very promising end to the previous T20 World Cup held in the US two years ago, Nepal faces England today in a bid to stamp its mark in the shortest format of the sport of cricket.

Nepal has had a lot of experiences, both domestic and international, since it made an impressive performance in the last world cup, when it lost by a whisker (by just a run) against eventual finalist South Africa.

Nepal also lost to Bangladesh by 23 runs, despite bowling them out for just 106 runs. Since then, the Nepali national cricket team has shown a lot of potential that could be translated into this world cup, to bring cheers to the sell-out crowd that are going to be present in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India today.

The recent experience with two editions of Nepal Premier League, a franchise-based T20 tournament held in Kathmandu and a 2-1 win against West Indies in Sharjah, UAE in September 2025 could prove handy for the Nepali national team, as they try to better their performance this time around.

This will be the first time that Nepal is facing England in a T20 cricket match and a win could boost their chances of qualifying for the second round of the global tournament. After Bangladesh was replaced with Scotland, Nepal has a better chance to make it through with Italy and the West Indies to tackle next.

Playing at the Wankhede in neighbouring India will certainly be an advantage for Nepal, as it will be like playing before a home crowd with a majority of the seats likely to be occupied by Nepali ardent cricket fans that have travelled to the venue already.

Furthermore, Nepal is playing all its four matches at the same venue, which might prove handy for both bowlers and batsmen as they will have a better sense of how the pitch behaves in the first and second innings, in natural light and artificial lights.

Nepal’s two matches start at 3:15 pm, one at 11:15 am and the last one against Scotland at 7:15 pm Nepali Standard Time. The Nepali team coached by the Australian former Cricket Stuart Law made an impressive start to their participation in this T20 World Cup by registering 2 in 2 wins in the warm up matches.

In the matches played in Chennai, India, Nepal defeated the UAE by 7 wickets with 18 balls remaining in a day/night match and Canada by 6 wickets with 12 balls remaining.

Nepal’s ace spinner, Sandeep Lamichhane, with almost 250 T20 wickets in his bag could prove a trump card for Nepal as he can build his experience for having played in the Indian Premier League for Delhi Capitals. He took 2 wickets each in both the warm up matches played against the UAE and Canada.

With Bangladesh not playing, he could prove hard to tackle for teams that are traditionally weak to spin like England, Scotland as well as West Indies, who love to play fast bowlers. Sompal Kami is the only player in the side to have played all the three T20 World Cup editions that Nepal has played so far.

As an all-rounder, his experience could also make the difference, along with that of Dipendra Singh Airee, who is electric in the field with direct hits to the stump, running out opponent batsmen in a flash.

Rohit Paudel is captaining his side for the second straight world cup and he has matured enough to lead his side for improbable wins for his country. After facing England today, Nepal will face Italy in a day-night contest on February 12 and play against the West Indies, three days later on February 15.

The last group-stage match for Nepal will be against Scotland to be played under lights on February 17. Led by Rohit Paudel, the Nepali national cricket T20 team for this world cup includes Dipendra Singh Airee (Vice-captain), Sandeep Lamichhane, Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Sundeep Jora, Aarif Sheikh, Basir Ahmad, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Gulshan Jha, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sher Malla and Lokesh Bam.

Nepal failed to win any match in previous edition and the team would certainly like to improve on that in familiar condition, just next to home. Nepal had won two matches, against Afghanistan and Hong Kong, in its maiden participation in the T20 world cup in Bangladesh in 2014.

The team led by Paras Khadka had brought Nepal to the attention of the cricketing world, which also inspired the younger generation back home to take up cricket, many of whom are now trying to replicate or even better that performance in this world cup.

As Nepali captain Paudel said in the introductory press conference by all the participating team captains, the team’s goal this time is to qualify for the super eight i.e. finish in the top two of the group. If this could be achieved, it would certainly be a proud moment for the country and could not only inspire generations but spread a cricketing fever in the country, already known around the world for a strong fanbase.

In addition, this tournament could also be the best opportunity for this young Nepali team to shed the tag of ‘cardiac kids’ for giving thrilling and gasping last-over/ball finishes and establish itself as a force to reckon with in the world of cricket.