Nepal squad for Asia Cup 2023: Full NEP team list, player news and injury updates

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In 2023, Nepal will make their maiden appearance in the Asia Cup. Here is the Nepal squad for Asia Cup 2023, including full team list, player news and injury updates.

The 2023 edition of the Asia Cup will mark Nepal’s first appearance in the history of the tournament. Unlike the five ICC Full Members – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan – Nepal had to qualify through the 2023 ACC Men’s Premier Cup.

There, they won three of their four league matches in (the match against Saudi Arabia was abandoned) to top Group A. In the semi-final, they posted 281-9 in 42 overs before reducing Kuwait to 37-6 in 8.3 overs, and qualified by virtue of a better position in the group stage.

Left-arm spinner Lalit Rajbanshi (4-14) ran riot in the final, helping bowl out the UAE for 117. Nepal themselves became 22-3 in response before Gulsan Jha (67 not out) and Bhim Sharki (37 not out) ensured a seven-wicket win.

Nepal are placed in Group A of the Asia Cup. They play Pakistan at the Multan Cricket Ground on August 30, and India at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on September 4. Two teams from the group will qualify for the Super Four.

Since their first match in 2018, Nepal have played 57 ODIs including a no-result match. They have won 30 and lost 25 of these, and tied with the USA at Pearland in 2022.

They finished eighth out of 10 teams in this year’s World Cup Qualifier, in Zimbabwe, above the two teams they defeated – the UAE and the USA. Defending 269 in the seventh-place playoff, they put up a fight, but Ireland eventually won with two wickets and four balls in hand.