Rohit Paudel, captain of Nepal, shared his thoughts after his team’s impressive performance against England in their first match of the T20 World Cup 2026 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Nepal almost achieved a memorable victory, coming close in their chase of 185 runs.
<p>Nepal ended their innings at 180/6, just four runs short of the target, after 20 overs. Despite the loss, Paudel commended his team's effort, stating that their goal in the World Cup is to compete at the highest level.</p>
<p>“The boys gave everything they had. I’m very proud of them and the effort from the team. My message before the game was to leave it all out there and play at 110%. We entered this World Cup with confidence, not just to participate but to compete. We believe that if we play our best Cricket, we can beat any team, and I think we showed that today,” Paudel said during the post-match presentation.</p>
<p>Even though they did not win, Paudel highlighted that his players performed admirably in all areas. He also noted that no team would overlook associate nations in the tournament moving forward.</p>
<p>“Although the result wasn't in our favour, we gave our best in every aspect of the game. Sam Curran bowled well in the final over. We'll learn from this and improve. Our plan was to keep wickets in hand and aim for 10 runs per over at the end. Facing Adil Rashid wasn’t part of the strategy. Going forward, we won’t underestimate any team, and I believe other teams will also respect the associate nations. This is a crucial lesson, and we need to perform at 100% as a team. Our supporters in Kathmandu and across Nepal have been fantastic. I’m sure the whole country will be proud of our efforts,” he added.</p>
<p>Paudel (39 off 34) and Dipendra Singh Airee (44 off 29) were key in maintaining Nepal’s chase, forming an important 82-run partnership for the third wicket. Their dismissals brought Lokesh Bam (39* off 20) to bat, who attempted to keep Nepal in the game with several boundaries in the final overs. However, needing 10 runs from the last over, Sam Curran (1/27) kept his cool, delivering perfect yorkers to secure England’s win. Will Jacks was named Player of the Match for his quick 39* off 18 balls and 1/17 in two overs.</p>
