Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and bowlers star as India beat Nepal by 10 wickets
India won the toss and opted to bowl first
First innings:
Nepal gets off to a flying start: India opted to bowl first in this match as Rohit Sharma said he wanted to see what the bowlers had to offer. But he was proved wrong as Nepal got off to a flying start and scored 53/0 in the first nine overs.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
But what was the reason for the good start?
The Indian bowlers and fielders. While Mohammed Shami got some swing off the surface, Siraj in particular looked rusty and most of the deliveries during his first spell were pad-lined which were easy flicks for the batsmen. The fielders were also to be blamed because India dropped three simple catches within the first five overs itself. First Shreyas Iyer put one down in the slip cordon, then Virat Kohli of all people put one down in the cover region and then Ishan Kishan fluffed a simple caught behind chance. The batsmen reprieved were Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh. But what was the reason behind his below par fielding show?
It was because many players were playing ODI Cricket after a long time and the players had not fielded as a group in a long time. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were playing after a month long break while Shreyas Iyer had just come back from a long injury hiatus. But this seemed like a wake up call for India before the important World Cup later this year and India is expected to come back stronger.
Shardul Thakur provides the first wicket for India: India’s man with the golden arm, Shardul Thakur provided the first breakthrough as opener Bhurtel edged one through to the keeper with Nepal scoring 65/1 in their first powerplay. This wicket showed Shardul Thakur’s ability to take wickets in crunch situations when no other bowler seems to be effective. This is the reason why he has been picked in the World Cup squad as well.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
Nepal collapse after good opening stand: Nepal suffered a collapse after their opening partnership as they lost three quick wickets in the form of Bhim Sharki, Captain Rohit Paudel and then Kushal Malla with all three going to Ravindra Jadeja as 65/1 soon became 102/4. All this while, Aasif Sheikh was witnessing this collapse from the other end. But what was the reason for this collapse?
Just before Jadeja started his first spell, Hardik Pandya had bowled two maiden overs on the trot and Jadeja got the reward for that. In an attempt to break the shackles, Sharki played a reckless shot as he tried to cut the ball that was very close to the stumps. Then Nepal’s captain Rohit Paudel got out in a very unfortunate way as he edged a ball from Jadeja straight to Rohit Sharma at slip. Then Kushal Malla played a poor shot as he tried to launch Jadeja down the ground but instead handed a simple catch to Siraj at mid on. And just like that, Nepal had thrown away all the good work that their openers had done.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
Aasif Sheikh provides Nepal with a glimmer of hope: Aasif Sheikh, who had been given a reprieve during the first powerplay, made the most of his chance as he made a well compiled 58 studded with 8 boundaries. He was supported well by Gulsan Jha who also made crucial 23 runs.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
Siraj provides double breakthroughs: Siraj provided India double breakthroughs as he took the wickets of Aasif Sheikh and Gulsan Jha in quick succession during his second spell.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
But even then, he continued to leak runs as most of his deliveries were pad-lined (which showed his lack of game time) and the Nepal batsmen were also not afraid of taking on the short ball which resulted in a flurry of boundaries during their whole innings.
Another stop-start affair: This India vs Nepal game was another stop-start affair as there were three rain breaks during Nepal’s batting innings. First after the 30th over, second after the 34th over and third during the 38th over (this one was a bit longer than the other two). These breaks even though short, were very frustrating and broke Nepal’s batting momentum.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
Lower order frustrates India: Nepal’s lower order batters, Dipendra Singh and Sompal Kami combined to frustrate India as they shared a 50 run stand for the 7th wicket. They scored 29 and 48 respectively.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
It was only then that Hardik Pandya took the wicket of Dipendra Singh which broke the partnership while Shami took the wicket of Sompal Kami. It was because of the contributions of these two that Nepal could score a respectable 230. But why was India not able to take the wickets of lower order batsmen quickly?
Mainly because they had a poor day in the field and they also put down many catches. Another reason can be that India took the opposition for granted and paid the price for it.
Collective performance from Indian bowlers: It was a collective performance from Indian bowlers as both Jadeja and Siraj finished with three wickets each while Shami, Hardik and Shardul also chipped in with one each.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
But could Nepal have done anything different in their batting innings?
Even though they had contributions from the top and lower order, their middle order collapsed and they lost quick wickets. Aasif Sheikh played well for them and instead of going for the big shots, the middle order duo of Bhim Sharki and Kushal Malla should have given themselves the time to settle down and then go for the big shots as the singles and doubles were coming in every over. But Rohit Paudel’s dismissal was very unfortunate and he got a beaut of a delivery from Ravindra Jadeja. There is nothing much he could have done there. If the middle order batsmen had applied themselves better, Nepal could have got much more than 230 and challenged India big time. But as they play more and more cricket against the bigger countries, they are only going to improve.
Second Innings:
India’s innings did start on time but there was another rain break which saw India chasing 145 runs in 23 overs. In batting, India showed who is the boss as they put behind them their shoddy fielding performance and openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill took India home without breaking a sweat. India chased the target in just 20.1 overs. But what were the positives for India from this game?
The biggest positive was runs for both Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma as both of them had missed out in the first game vs Pakistan. Both scored their respective fifties and took India home. Rohit scored 74* while Gill remained unbeaten on 67 runs.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/asia-cup-2023-1388374/india-vs-nepal-5th-match-group-a-1388398/match-photo
Another positive is that bowlers got some overs under their belt and spent some time in the middle while everyone (except Kuldeep) chipped in with wickets.
But what was the learning for India from this game?
That they need to improve their fielding and catching before the big World Cup tournament otherwise this can cost them big time.
Brief Scores:
Nepal- 230/10 (Aasif Sheikh- 58, Sompal Kami- 48, Kushal Bhurtel- 38, Dipendra Singh- 29, Gulsan Jha- 23)
India- 147/0 in 20.1 overs due to DLS (Rohit Sharma- 74*, Shubman Gill- 67*)
Note: The credit for these images goes to espncricinfo.com. I do not own any of these images. These images have been used to depict what happened during the match.