This was a game where India were expected to be clinical and set themselves up for the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup. They were untidy and sloppy with the ball and also dropped catches early on after putting Nepal into bat.
But with the bat, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill ensured they put up a dominating show that helped India beat Nepal by 10 wickets (DLS method) in Pallekele on Monday and also earn a Super Four berth.
Having let this Nepal side, which lacks enough experience of playing at the highest level, get to 230, India saw their target revised to 145 in 23 overs following a long rain delay after only 2.1 overs in the second half. Rohit was troubled a little bit in the opening over of India’s run chase by pacer Karan Khatri Chhetri.
But when play resumed, the conditions were more in India’s favour while it was always going to be tough for the Nepal bowlers to deal with a wet ball. Rohit and Gill hardly had any problem in scoring then, while the India captain was also given a reprieve at deep square leg when he was on 16.
Gill had begun with three cracking boundaries and once Rohit got into his groove, the rest was bread-and-butter for him. Together with Gill, he toyed with the Nepal bowlers as India reached home with 17 balls to spare.
However, this game should also serve as a wake-up call for India’s bowlers before their first Super Four-stage clash against Pakistan on Sunday. Given India’s bowling attack — even in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence — they ought to have done better than allowing Nepal to reach a competitive total on what seemed to be a two-paced track.
India’s bowlers certainly needed some overs to go through their paces and gain some rhythm going forward in the competition. Particularly as they couldn’t bowl at all against Pakistan due to rain.
It seemed as if the Indians were in a slumber as three catches were dropped inside the first five overs. The ones that Shreyas Iyer (at slip cordon), Virat Kohli (at short cover) and keeper Ishan Kishan shelled were all relatively easy ones, which allowed Nepal openers Kushal Bhurtel (38) and Aasif Sheikh (58) to hammer 65 inside the first 10 overs.
India’s spinners did a comparatively better job. Ravindra Jadeja (3/40)’s quick strikes and Kuldeep Yadav’s disciplined bowling were crucial in impeding Nepal’s progress.
Mohammed Siraj also struck thrice but bowled a little too short too often. Mohammed Shami, in his first appearance post the World Test Championship finalback in June, and Hardik Pandya finished with better economy rates, but the margin of error would have been far lesser against a stronger batting unit.
