Since impressing with their brand of cricket at a global stage a decade ago in Bangladesh, Nepal are miles away from the Indian sub-continent; all set to make a return to the World Cup.
Nepal will kick off their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against the Netherlands on June 4 at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.

Nepal managed to get some familiarity with the venue following their first official warm-up tie against Canada, which they went on to lose. The second warm-up against co-hosts USA, however, was washed out due to rain.
As both teams have met each other quite a few times at international stage, the first meeting between the two Associate sides at a global competition is expected to be a cracker of a contest.
Dutch on the edge
The Netherlands have an edge over Nepal in terms of head-to-head meeting between the two sides. Nepal have won just five out of 12 Twenty20 Internationals played against the Dutch.
The latest Dutch victory came in the final of a Twenty20 Triangular Series, held early this year in Nepal and involved Namibia. Netherlands had also beaten Nepal in the league stage of that tournament.
Spinners the key?
The Grand Prairie Stadium hosted 12 games in Major League Cricket, out of which the team batting first have won eight times.
Defending the total is considered easier at this venue, where the average first-inning score is around 167.

Spinners, in general, the leg spinners and left-arm spinners, will be crucial weapons for any playing team here.
In the warm-up match, while all the Nepali bowlers were conceding plenty of runs, Sagar Dhakal had an economy of just 5.5 in his four overs. Out of the top three wicket-takers in this venue so far, two of them are leg-spinners.
Saqib Zulfiqar will be handling the leg-spin department for the Dutch side, whereas Kushal Bhurtel will have to step up with the ball as well as star leggie Sandeep Lamichhane has to continue his exile due to visa issues, this time.
Not on a great run
The Netherlands recently played a Tri-series at home before coming to the World Cup. They managed to win only one match against Scotland who later went on to earn a thumping 71-run victory in the second game.
But barring that massive loss, the Netherlands put on some decent display losing by just one and three runs against Test side Ireland.
After that Tri-series, Netherlands stunned Sri Lanka by 20 runs in their official warm-up, while their second game was also washed out.
Nepal on the contrary enjoyed a valiant 2-3 loss against a strong West Indies ‘A’ side at home before heading to the Caribbean for a three-match series against Windwards Island.
They won the series 2-1 and won two matches against the Houston Hurricanes. But they were given a reality check by Canada in the official warm-up fixture.
All eyes on openers
The Nepali opening pair of Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh has been under scrutiny for a long. The inability to put big partnership on board has been putting pressure on the middle order and not fetching desired results for the team.

Irrespective of all the grinding the pair has received off the field, coach Monty Desai will still go for his experienced opening duo expecting to get results in a crucial tournament of his own career.
After a sensational start to their Twenty20 International career as opening pair, their average has gone below 25 (in 2024), with only Aasif being able to score a half century this year.
They love to perform on the big stage; which they did during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers and in the ACC Men’s Asia Cup.
Death overs a major concern
For the last one year, Nepal’s bowling in the death over has turned out to be an Achilles heel. Any bowler Desai has tried in the closing stages of the innings, has gone for hitting.

In the warm-up match against Canada itself, experienced trio of Sompal Kami, Abinash Bohara and Karan KC leaked 55 runs in the last three overs. For Nepal, the last four overs are going to be pretty crucial.
Key players
Rohit Kumar Paudel, who is expected to bat at No 4, has been in an exceptional form since the series against the West Indies ‘A’. The Dutch bowlers would love to get rid of him in the game as early as possible to avert any danger.
Dipendra Singh Airee has fully recovered from his injury and is ready to play the first match against the Netherlands. A three-dimensional player, Dipendra will not only be the key against Netherlands but also the entire World Cup for Nepal.

The main strength of the Dutch side is their openers Max O’Dowd and Michael Levitt. Both of these players were the top two run-getters in the recent triangular series the Netherlands played at home.
Levitt made his debut in Twenty-Twenty International in Nepal this year, and since then has scored 349 runs for his team in eight innings.

Karan KC troubled these two batters in the shorter format with the Nepali medium pacer getting rid of O’Dowd four times and Levitt once in three innings.
Sagar Dhakal will also have an equally important role to play with the ball, considering the role of spinners on this track.
Probable Playing XI
Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh (WK), Anil Sah, Rohit Kumar Paudel (captain), Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal.
