Nepal has lost to Malaysia just once. Two years ago, Malaysia defeated Nepal by 6 wickets during the ACC Twenty20 Cup in UAE. In the inaugural ACC T20 Cup, Nepal had beaten Malaysia by 21 runs in Kuwait.
The draw of ACC T20 Cup 2011 added yet another coincidence. Nepal is playing Malaysia in the first match for the third time in a row at the ACC T20 Cup. Nepal’s group also consists of UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bhutan.
First match of any event is important for any team – more so because Nepal, Malaysia and UAE are among the favorite to proceed to semifinals.
“The match against Malaysia is special,” former captain Binod Das says. “Malaysia will also be under pressure because they are playing Nepal.”
Binod is confident that Nepal will step towards semifinal beating Malaysia. “We have prepared well,” he said. The biggest thing favoring Nepal is the home ground advantage as the match will be played at the TU Cricket Ground on December 3.
Shakti Gauchan considered the draw relatively easy for Nepal. “On the cursory look, the group is relatively easy however in Twenty20, it would be fatal to consider any team weak,” he said.
Binod also added that Nepal needs to reach the semifinal becoming group winner. Defending champions Afghanistan, the ODI nation for 2009-2012, is strong favorite and it would be best for Nepal to avoid them in semifinal.
The Group A consists of Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Oman, Kuwait and Maldives.
“Majority of our players are in Maldives competing in the SAARC T20 Cup where Nepal is placed against strong teams, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Karnataka Institute of Cricket of India. They got good opportunity to practice,” Binod said.
Apart from Binod, Shakti, Mehboob Alam, Sanjam Regmi and Basant Regmi, the team players are in Maldives for the tournament.
Binod was axed as captain two years ago on the eve of ACC T20 Cup. The pacer proved his quality becoming Nepal’s highest wicket taker with 10 wickets. However, after that Binod has largely failed to put his marks for the national team.
Another crucial match for Nepal will be against UAE, a strong team. However, Binod said both teams have seen so many changes and haven’t met recently. “We haven’t played recently, so there are changes, and don’t know each other very well,” he said.
The ACC T20 Cup will be played in Nepal from Dec 3 to 10. All Nepal’s league matches are at the TU Cricket Ground.