Nepal are set to begin their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Asia Qualifier campaign with a match against Singapore at the TU Cricket Ground in Kathmandu on Monday, aiming to secure their ticket to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the first time since 2014.

Eight teams are competing in the Asia regional final, with two spots up for grabs at the next year’s global showpiece in the United States and West Indies. Nepal are drawn alongside Singapore, Oman and Malaysia in Group A, while Group B consists of the UAE, Hong Kong, Bahrain and Kuwait. The top two teams in each group will progress into the high-stakes semi-finals where the two finalists will book their place in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Nepal’s only appearance at a cricket World Cup came at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh.

The Rhinos will be the favourites to claim one of the two spots at the World Cup. A passionate home crowd will provide an extra boost to a young team that is brimming with confidence following an impressive run that started in February this year.

Coach Monty Desai came at the helm in early February when Nepal were picking up pieces at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2. But Desai transformed Nepal into an formidable outfit, guiding them from second-last place in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 to an automatic spot in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in just 40 days—winning 11 of their 12 one-day international matches.

Desai then guided Nepal to their only second Asia Cup 2023 in May.

Although Nepal fell short against cricket giants like Zimbabwe, India and Pakistan in both tournaments, their spirited performance has attracted attention from around the globe.

The Rhinos fine-tuned their preparation for the Asia regional final with a near-perfect warm-up T20I Tri-Nation Series at home defeating the UAE and Hong Kong twice in the double-legged group phase but lost to the UAE in the final—their only defeat out of 17 matches at home under Desai.

“That defeat was tough to swallow… but we will be working on deep diving into our plans and see if there are any weaknesses,” Desai has said. “We will look into the areas where we feel that we might have missed out in our preparations.”

Desai is also hopeful Nepal will qualify for the World Cup.

“We believe our team will deliver for us,” he added. “The Tri-Nation Series was a great platform for us to prepare well for this most important week. My urge to our players will be to remain persistent with their approach with the bat, ball and on the field. We know that big moments are important moments in the game and we want to capitalise on that.”

Desai has urged Nepal supporters to show up in large numbers. “Our young team has been working very hard and sweating very hard,” he went on. “While we look into those one-ball strategies to ensure that we keep the right foot forward, we want your presence to ensure and see these young dreams cross those lines and on that particular day, when we qualify we will all celebrate together.”

One of the major factors for Nepal’s key to success could be a squad that Desai and captain Rohit Paudel have kept unchanged since February except for Abinash Bohara, who remains the only new addition in the national colours. Sandeep Lamichhane is also back in the duty after taking a short break from cricket. These players will carry an experience of more than two dozen international games into the regional finals.

Positioned 16th in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings, Nepal are the top-most ranked team heading into the Asia regional final. The UAE are ranked 17th, Oman 20th, Hong Kong 21st, Malaysia 25th, Kuwait 27th, Bahrain 28th and Singapore 36th.

The UAE—who ended Nepal’s 16-match unbeaten run at home on Friday—are the other favourites to advance, having qualified for the 2022 T20 World Cup defeating Nepal in the semi-finals of the Global Qualifier A in Oman in February last year. Oman are also the top contenders after defeating the UAE by five wickets to clinch the T20I Gulf Cricket Championship title last month.

Australia, England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka qualified to the T20 World Cup 2024 as the top-eight teams in the 2022 edition. Bangladesh and Afghanistan qualified by virtue of their position in the ICC Men's T20I Team Ranking at the end of the previous T20 World Cup. Ireland and Scotland have already booked their spots through the Europe Qualifier while Papua New Guinea and Canada qualified through the East-Asia Pacific Qualifier. The next two spots at the World Cup will be decided through the Africa Qualifier, which begins on November 20 in Namibia.