"We want to prove to India that Nepal also plays good cricket," Nepal skipper Paras Khadka told Republica. "We have to play better and focus on our own performance rather than worrying about opponents," he added.
Nepal had lost its first match against archrival associate nation Afghanistan on Saturday by three runs as the lower-order folded miserably. On the other hand, India U-23 defeated Pakistan U-23 by three wickets in its first match of the tournament on Sunday. Meanwhile, Pakistan U-23 beat Afghanistan by two wickets on Monday to keep alive its semifinal hopes. [break]
"We played better than our level against Afghanistan but unfortunately could not achieve the desired result," said captain Khadka. "We are aware of the mistakes we had made during the match against Afghanistan. However, we want to forget the result and move forward," he added.
Nepal has nothing to lose against the team of a Test nation. National teams of the top three finishers of the ACC Trophy Elite and the host Singapore are competing against the U-23 teams of Asian Test nations -- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka -- in the tournament. Nepal, Afghanistan, India U-23 and Pakistan U-23 are in Group A of the tournament.
The India U-23 squad includes 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) players. India U-23 skipper Suryakumar Yadav plays for Mumbai Indians while U-19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand, who plays for Delhi Daredevils, is also in the U-23 squad.
However, Khadka is hopeful of creating history on Tuesday. "Cricket is a game of bat and ball. We will be playing for our nation as they do for theirs. We are not concerned about the professional level they play at," said Khadka. "People had not believed that we could challenge Afghanistan so well, but we did. We have to improve our level and be strong. We have a chance of winning Tuesday´s match," he added.
According to Khadka, the playing XI will be decided on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Nepali batsman Pradeep Airee still has some minor injury problems.
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