Pakistan kicks off its campaign for the Asia Cup on Wednesday, taking on Nepal in the sweltering heat of the city as international multi-team cricket returns to the country after nearly 15 years. It has been a long, hard road for Pakistani cricket since the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009. Following the attack, Pakistan not only lost the hosting rights for the Champions Trophy, but also lost its stake in the World Cup. matches in 2011. With the International Cricket Council (ICC) and member states reluctant to visit the country for security reasons, Pakistan was not required to play an international match at home against top teams for nearly eight years.
Therefore, the four Asia Cup matches held in the country are of great significance to Pakistan, which has also won the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Pakistan, who recently moved up to No. 1 in the ODI rankings after a clean win in the ODI series against Afghanistan in Sri Lanka, should win comfortably against Nepal, who are playing their first Asia Cup.
Only two Nepalese players, leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, have experience playing in T20 competitions.
Apart from Lamichhane, who has played in the Pakistan Super League, the others know very little about the playing conditions here.
After being awarded ODI status in 2018, Nepal is ranked 15th in the 50-over format, a sign of how close they are to achieving their dream of competing in the 2027 World Cup, which will be a matter of will be with 14 teams.
Having arrived in Pakistan a week ago, it will be interesting to see how they stack up against a team that is one of the favorites to win the Asia Cup.
Pakistan will only play two games at home and the rest in Sri Lanka, including the big one against India. But the game against Nepal will give their players a good opportunity to refine their game.
Babar Azam recently hit two half-centuries against Afghanistan and only a big one will satisfy the home side’s fans.
With the weather expected to be hot and humid, both teams will rely heavily on their spinners to do the job.
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