Shami replaces Bumrah, India ask Nepal to bat

Posted By on September 4, 2023

Toss India opt to bowl vs Nepal

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose bowl against Nepal in what was the first international game between the two teams, in rainy Pallekele. Just when Rohit announced his decision to insert Nepal, the drizzle returned. It had also rained on the eve of the game, forcing Nepal’s players to train indoors.

The rain could be a constant throughout this game and throughout the tournament, with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) considering moving matches in the Super Four stage away from Colombo, which has also had heavy rain in the past few days.
India were without their premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has returned home for the birth of his first child. He will likely rejoin the side for the Super Four round. Bumrah’s absence opened up a spot for Mohammed Shami, who will be in action in his first ODI since March, when India lost a rare bilateral series at home, against Australia. This will also be Shami’s first white-ball game since the IPL final in May.

Rohit Paudel, who was captaining Nepal two days after his 21st birthday against India’s superstars, called this the “biggest day” for Nepal cricket. They also made one change, with Bhim Sharki replacing Aarif Sheikh. Sharki was also part of the Nepal side that had toured the island for the men’s Emerging Asia Cup in July earlier this year.

This game will be played on the same pitch that had been used for India-Pakistan, which was washed out. After rain had denied India’s bowlers a crack at Pakistan’s line-up on Saturday, they will look to get a solid workout against Nepal. India will progress to the Super Fours round if they win on Monday or even another washout will suffice.

India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Ishan Kishan (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Nepal: 1 Kushal Bhurtel, 2 Aasif Sheikh (wk), 3 Rohit Paudel (capt), 4 Bhim Sharki, 5 Sompal Kami, 6 Dipendra Singh Airee, 7 Gulsan Jha, 8 Kushal Malla, 9 Karan KC, 10 Sandeep Lamichhane, 11 Lalit Rajbanshi

Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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