Nepal will aim to impress at the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies when they launch their campaign against the Netherlands at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Tuesday.

Drawn in Group D, the Rhinos will play their next group matches against Sri Lanka in Florida on June 12, followed by clashes against South Africa on June 15 and against Bangladesh on June 17 in the Caribbean.

Nepal, ranked 17th in the men’s T20I, are one of the top four highest-placed associated nations in the tournament. The young guns, led by 21-year-old captain Rohit Paudel, have the potential to cause an upset at the cricket tournament’s biggest stage and will aim to make history by progressing from the group stage.

The top two teams from each of the four groups will reach the Super Eight stage.

But their recent form—and a group including three full member nations and surprise elements the Netherlands—suggests that making it into the Super Eight will be difficult.

Nepal will be making their first appearance at the World Cup since the World T20 in Bangladesh in 2014. They have never qualified for the 50-over Cricket World Cup and are the least experienced side in the group.

They are heading into the World Cup following a series of disappointing results, including the ACC Men’s T20 Premier Cup debacle and a heavy 63-run warm-up defeat against Canada.

Inconsistencies with the bat have been one of their biggest headaches so far.

Openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh have failed to live up to the billing lately, resulting in a failure to give the team a good start.

Three years ago, on April 17, 2021, when the duo fearlessly put on a record-breaking 116-run opening stand against the Netherlands in their T20I debut in Kirtipur during the Nepal Tri-Nation T20I Series, the impression was that Nepal had finally found the missing piece of their top batting order.

However, questions have been raised over their form as the opening duo has failed to build any impressive partnership recently, especially this year.

Bhurtel—despite being one of the three Nepali batters alongside Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee to have crossed 1,000 T20I runs—is experiencing the worst year of his career and is showing no signs of improvement. In his last four T20I innings, he was dismissed for three ducks in a row during the Premier Cup, and for 10 runs against Canada during the World Cup warm-up. In between, he played knocks of 16, 2, 1 and 13 against West Indies A.

Shiekh has also been unsteady with the bat. He scored a fifty against West Indies A and 22 against Canada in the World Cup warm-up but failed to cross double-digit figures in his previous four outings.

Nepal’s batting display will heavily rely on skipper Paudel, who usually bats at number three, and big-hitter finisher Airee.

Paudel is the most consistent batter in the Nepal squad. He is at his prime and entering the World Cup having scored 265 runs in his four innings that included a century and two half-centuries against West Indies A.

Allrounder Airee holds the record for fastest T20I fifty. More recently, he entered the elite club when he smashed six sixes in an over against Qatar during the T20I Premier Cup, becoming the only third man to do so after Yuvraj Singh in 2007 and Keiron Pollard in 2021.

Airee will certainly be the trump card of Nepal’s batting order at the World Cup.

Kushal Malla, whose 34-ball hundred against Mongolia is the second fastest T20I century, is also expected to kindle fireworks.

Nepal’s bowling unit will be another key strength at the World Cup, as they demonstrated in the warm-up game against Canada. They proved effective in the middle overs and struck five times in the space of 27 deliveries to limit Canada from 111-2 in the 14th over to 135-7 in the 18th over.

All-rounder Sompal Kami—the only player from Nepal’s 2014 World Cup squad to feature in the 2024 edition—will bring hordes of experience in the bowling department and will lead the fast bowling alongside cult hero Karan KC, who is the highest wicket-taker in Nepal’s squad with 90 wickets from 68 innings.

Lalit Rajbanshi will lead the spin threat alongside Sagar Dhakal, who is proving his worth by taking seven wickets in his last four matches.

However, all eyes will be on Abinash Bohara, who will be crucial for Nepal at the back end of the innings as the majority of his wickets have come in the death overs. Since making his debut in 2019, Bohara has taken 74 wickets from 56 innings, which is the third highest for Nepal.

Nepal will still be the heavy underdogs in the group, especially against 2014 world champions Sri Lanka and 2009 and 2014 semi-finalists South Africa. This will be the first time Nepal will face Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Paudel, who is the youngest captain in the United States and the West Indies among the 20 participating nations, believes Nepal can do well at the World Cup.

“I have faith in my team. They will give their best, be it in opening batting or other departments,” said Paudel, who added that the role of openers would be important. “It is upon the opening batters to get the team off to a good start,” he added.

“In T20 cricket, no team is really a favourite. The Netherlands defeated Sri Lanka in the warm-up game. The United States beat Bangladesh twice for a historic 2-1 series victory. That’s why I believe we can and we will [compete].”

If Nepal are to build momentum for the Super Eight stage, they will need to overcome their first hurdle against familiar foes Netherlands, who are making their fifth appearance at the T20 World Cup.

But it will not be an easy task against the tricky Dutch, who are on the verge of completing a hat-trick of wins against the Proteas after defeating them in the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

“Our team is focused on the Netherlands match because it is very important for us to win that game and carry the thrust to the following matches. Our players are also well aware of their respective roles,” Paudel added.

Nepal can also present a thrilling challenge to a Bangladesh team, who are reeling after hitting a new low after losing a series against inexperienced and tournament debutants, the US. The Tigers also lost to Zimbabwe by eight wickets in a T20I series earlier this month.

This will be the second meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh. In fact, Bangladesh defeated Nepal by eight wickets in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup and progressed into the second round. The Bangladeshis have never made it to the knockout stages across eight editions of the tournament.