Nepal is the only associate nation in pitted in Group D which features three-time champions India and Australia as well as another Test playing nation New Zealand.It is a good opportunity for Nepal to prove its worth for making it to the finals for the seventh occasion. Nepal has already played the youth world cup six times in the past.
Nepal's coach Jagat Tamata, who helped Nepal qualify for the Bangladesh finals, believes that the Nepali team has talents to produce shocking results.
"We qualified for the event beating one of the best associate nations Ireland twice in the qualifiers," he said.
Likewise, Raju Rijal, who captained Nepali team during the qualifiers in Malaysia, is also targeting to prove that associate nations can also play better cricket during the World Cup. According to Raju, Nepali team is also targeting to beat at least one Test-playing nation.
Currently 22 players, including six new faces, are currently in the closed-camp training for the World Cup.
Among the six new players Ishant Pandey and Avinash Karna are the opening batsmen, while Nandan Yadav, Sagar Bandari, Avinash Bohara and Irshad Ahemed are the bowlers.
The bowlers have been impressive than the batsmen since the closed-camp training started last week. It is learnt that most the players who helped Nepal qualify for the world cup will be picked up for the final squad (14 regular and four reserve).
"New players could be in the team if their performance will be impressive. The team will depend mostly upon the squad that guided Nepal into the world cup," informed Tamata.
"The World Cup will provide an opportunity to test the potential of our players," said Tamata.
Nepal is planning to spend nearly 20 days in the country and is likely to travel to India to play some practice matches and further training as the condition of India is similar to Bangladesh.
According to Coach Tamata, they are preparing to leave for Bangladesh four or five days earlier so that they could play some practice matches.
"We are planning to play some practice matches. If not possible, that will help us to acclimatize in Bangladesh," said Tamata.
Nepal is also scheduled to play two warm-up matches before the group match -- one against Pakistan on January 23 and another against Sri Lanka on January 25.
Nepal will begin its group stage match facing New Zealand on January 28, against Australia on January 30 and the last group match against India on February 1.
One of the reasons behind the claim that Nepal will produce better results is that the pitch condition of Nepal and Bangladesh are somehow similar and favorable for the Nepali team.
According to Coach Tamata, the wicket is slow (with turning track) in Bangladesh.
Although, Nepal is currently depending upon all-round team with better spin attacks, it will feature players according to the match condition.
"We will definitely play matches depending upon our strength," said Tamata.
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