‘Powerplay Collapse Put us Under Pressure’: Nepal Skipper Rohit Paudel on Defeat to Bangladesh

Kingstown [Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]: After suffering a 21-run defeat against Bangladesh, Nepal captain Rohit Paudel admitted that losing four wickets in the powerplay put his side under a lot of pressure but they fought back well in their last ICC T20 World Cup match.

Bangladesh defeated Nepal by 21 runs at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent, defending the lowest score (106) in the big event’s history.

The captain lauded his bowlers for their superb performance against Bangladesh and admitted that the batters needed to play well. Paudel said they need to step up as a batting unit and assess the wicket a lot better and added that the team has great potential and he hopes to do better going ahead.

“As a bowling unit we bowled really well. We could have done better with the bat. The top order could have batted tighter. Bangladesh bowled really well with the new ball. Losing 4 wickets in the powerplay put us under a lot of pressure. They were always challenging us, they bowled really well in the powerplay. As a batting unit we need to step up, we need to know where to score runs and how to assess conditions,” Paudel said in a post-match presentation.

The narrative around Nepalese cricket also includes its fans. They performed in front of full houses back home, and it was no different in Dallas, Lauderhill, and Kingstown.

Paudel also vowed to perform better in the next World Cup, which will be played in India and Sri Lanka in 2026. The Nepal captain also welcomed the overwhelming support, but he also wanted them to recognise that Nepal’s growth was dependent on facing large teams and winning important games.

“We’re up to the mark with our bowling and fielding. This team has great potential, we need to back each and every player, I feel we will do very well in the next World Cup. We have disappointed our fans, we could have won a few matches, feel for them. We will try to make them happy in the coming years,” he added.

Coming to the match, Bangladesh became the final team to make the T20 World Cup Super Eights. Nepal was bowled out for 85 and this is the lowest total ever defended by a team in Men’s T20 World Cups. With Bangladesh sealing a place in the Super 8s, the Netherlands have been knocked out of the tournament.

Tanzim at the start and Mustafizur Rahman at the end were brilliant. Mustafizur bagged three wickets while Tanzim returned with the figure of 4-7.

Nepal’s run chase of 107 runs was anything but smooth sailing in the early stages. A double-wicket maiden in the third over caused a spicy exchange involving bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib, as the pressure gauge went up in St. Vincent.