India will lock horns against Nepal in their second Asia Cup match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele on Monday. India’s much-awaited match against Pakistan was called off due to rain and the Rohit Sharma-led team will be eyeing a Super Four stage berth.
India’s top-order had failed to deliver against Pakistan as they lost four wickets for only 66 runs. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer were all dismissed cheaply. However, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya scored 82 and 87 runs respectively and it was a big positive for India. The duo added 138 runs off just 142 balls to help India post 266 runs.
The top order is going to hold the key for India but they were exposed against the quality seam bowling attack of Pakistan.
On the other hand, Nepal was blown away by Pakistan in their opening fixture of the Asia Cup by 238 runs and they will need to pull up their socks. Nepal bowlers were able to keep Pakistan in check in the first half of the innings but they could not bowl accurately towards the end.
Furthermore, the Rohit Paudel-led team could only manage 104 runs on the board and they will have to come up with a better show.
Match Prediction: There is no doubt that India will start as red-hot favorites against depleted Nepal.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Prasidh Krishna, Tilak Varma.
Nepal Squad: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh(w), Rohit Paudel(c), Aarif Sheikh, Sompal Kami, Gulsan Jha, Dipendra Singh Airee, Kushal Malla, Sandeep Lamichhane, Karan KC, Lalit Rajbanshi, Bhim Sharki, Kishore Mahato, Sundeep Jora, Pratis GC, Arjun Saud, Mousom Dhakal
