The 16th season of Asia Cup i.e. Asia Cup 2023 is going to start from today. In the first match of the tournament, two-time former champions Pakistan will face Nepal. Nepal team is entering the tournament for the first time. The Pakistan team under the captaincy of Babar Azam is currently the world’s No.1 team in ODIs. In such a situation, the team will want to start with a win. Babar is also the number-1 ODI batsman. On the other hand, 20-year-old Rohit Paudel is leading Nepal. Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane will be in charge of the team. Lamichhane has also entered the IPL. Apart from this, he has played in all major leagues around the world.
The current season of Asia Cup is also important in terms of preparation for the World Cup. Due to this, all the teams are landing here with their veteran players. Apart from the Asia Cup, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are also scheduled to play in the ODI World Cup starting from October 5. Nepal team has not played a single ODI against Pakistan till now. That means the team will be facing a veteran team for the first time. Nepal team will play ODI against India for the first time on September 4.
Qualified by defeating UAE
Nepal team qualified for the tournament after defeating UAE in the final of the Asia Cup Qualifier. The team won 3 out of 4 matches in the group round. One match did not result. After this, the semi-final match against Kuwait could not be played due to rain. After winning more matches, Nepal team managed to reach the title round. Apart from Rohit Paudel in the Asia Cup, the team will depend on wicketkeeper Asif Sheikh, opener batsman Kushal Bhurtel, Sandeep Lamichhane and fast bowler Karan Chhetri.
Talking about Pakistan, the focus will be on the trio of Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, Naseem and Haris Rauf. Recently, the team registered a huge 3-0 win in the ODI series against Afghanistan.
Both teams are
Pakistan’s Playing-Eleven: Babar Azam (Captain), Shadab Khan (Vice-Captain), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Nepal Team: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Asif Sheikh (wk), Bhim Sharkey, Kushal Malla, Arif Sheikh, Dipendra Singh Ere, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan Chhetri, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Pratishth GC, Shyam Dhakkal, Sandeep Jora, Kishore Mahato and Arjun Saeed.