On Monday (September 4), Team India further demonstrated that cricket is a gentleman’s game. Following their play in Pallekele at the ongoing Asia Cup 2023, the Men in Blue thought of a kind gesture for Nepal.
It was a David versus. Goliath battle between the two teams. Few people anticipated Nepal would compete with India, one of the strongest teams in the world. While Team India has been the competition’s most successful team throughout its history, Nepal was participating in the Asia Cup for the first time in its history.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of people anticipated a one-sided match, especially in light of Nepal’s disappointing performance against Pakistan earlier in the competition. When playing Pakistan, the team captained by Rohit Paudel gave up 342 runs before being dismissed for a meagre 104 runs.
The cricketing community, however, was in for a tremendous shock when Nepal shocked everyone by challenging India for first place. Nepal managed to score 230 runs, which was a respectable total helped by India’s subpar fielding. Before India reduced them to 144 for 6, their openers had scored 65 runs for the first wicket. However, the lower order played brilliantly to push the total above 200 runs.
Nepal made a bright start with the ball as well. Before Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill ultimately calmed down and led India to a 10-wicket victory (DLS method), pacer Karan KC first put the team’s captain in a lot of bother. The revised total for India was 145 in 23 overs, and they completed it in the 21st over.
And after the game was over, Team India’s stars made a kind gesture for the Nepali team. Along with sharing their experiences with the Nepali team, the players and coach also gave them praise. Players from Nepal who played well in the match received medals from people like Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, and coach Rahul Dravid.
