Nepal will compete against Oman at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Stadium in Kirtipur, Nepal and Oman will face each other for the first time since February 2020 in Kathmandu.
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The Cricket World Cup League 2 cycle is four years. In the last cycle of 2019-23, Nepal met Oman in Kathmandu in February 2020. Since then, there has been a great upheaval not only in the world but also in Nepali cricket.
When Oman last came to Kathmandu for League 2, Kushal Bhurtel and Asif Sheikh had not made their ‘debut’ from Nepal. Paras Khadka had left the captaincy of Nepal shortly before that. Nepal played Oman under the captaincy of Gyanendra Malla. Sharad Veshavkar was in his ‘prime form’.
That match against Oman was also Nepal’s first ODI played at home. Oman had ‘clean swept’ the series that also included the US. With captain Jason Maksdur and Aqib Ilyas batting and Bilal Khan and Kalimullah bowling, Oman won all 4 matches in Kirtipur. Nepal, which lost 2 matches to Oman, won both matches against the US. The US, however, lost all 4 matches.
Immediately after this series, the impact of COVID-19 was felt all over the world and from where it reached the world. Dipendra Singh Airi, Rohit Poudel, Arif Sheikh, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, and Binod Bhandari, who played the last home series against Oman, are still in the Nepali team. Sompal Kami did not play that series due to injury. Jatinder Singh, who came to Nepal on the last tour, is now the Omani captain. Nepali soil is new to all other Omani players.
Oman played excellently in that circle of 2019-2023. The team finished second with 44 points in 36 matches. Bilal played a big role in taking Oman to that position by taking 76 wickets in 35 matches. Nepal finished third with 40 points. Nepal moved closer to second-placed Oman by winning 11 of the last 12 matches, of which Nepal won all 8 matches played at home. Overall, Nepal won 10 of the 12 matches at home in the last League 2, with two defeats to Oman.
Nepal is now in the same position. The desired result is also the same. Nepal is in seventh place with only 14 points after playing 21 matches. Now there are 15 matches to play. If Nepal can win about 12 of these matches, Nepal can stay in the top four, which will take Nepal to the ODI World Cup qualifiers for the second time in a row. Out of these 15 matches, Nepal will play 7 matches at home. After this series with UAE and Oman, Nepal will play another League 2 series with USA and Scotland.
Then Nepal will go to Netherlands in July and play Netherlands and Namibia there. Nepal will go to Oman in October to complete the 2023-2027 League 2 circle. Nepal will face Oman and Canada in Muscat.
Big expectations from opening batting
Nepal is facing Oman on Wednesday at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. In this League 2 series, Nepal defeated UAE by 37 runs on Saturday. Oman, on the other hand, lost to UAE by 25 runs on Monday. Oman is in third place with 29 points from 25 matches.
Captain Rohit Poudel has already said that this series will be very important for Nepal to enter the top four. Nepal could only score 200 runs in the first match against UAE. Rohit and the Nepali team were not satisfied with that. Rohit argued that Nepal should focus on batting in the most important matches.
It seems that especially the openers Asif and Kushal should play with restraint. Asif, who scored 7 runs in the first over against UAE, was bowled while trying to play a cross on a line ball in the second over. Asif had scored a double century in domestic cricket just a while ago. At such a crucial juncture, the Nepali team is expecting a similar important innings from Asif.
Since scoring 52 runs against the US in Dallas in October 2024 during the US tour, Asif has not been able to score a half-century in League 2. He has played 11 innings in that process. Kusal had lost his wicket after scoring 24 runs against UAE. He has also not been able to score a half-century in the last 8 matches of League 2. In this League 2 circle, Asif has scored 416 runs in 19 matches and Kushal has scored 371 runs in 18 matches. Asif has scored 3 and Kushal has scored 2 half-centuries.
Nepal is going to play Oman for the second time in the 2023-2027 League 2 circle. Oman defeated Nepal by 1 wicket in the first match during their 2024 tour of Canada, while the second match was cancelled.
Oman, which had 'clean swept' the League 2 series 6 years ago, has not had a good tour of Kathmandu this year. Oman, which rested some key players in a practice match against Nepal 'A', was defeated by 115 runs at the Upper Cricket Ground in Mulpani on Friday.
Oman wicketkeeper Vinayak Shukla scored an unbeaten 58 runs against the UAE. He had said that he would take some positive aspects from that match and play against Nepal.
