The Nepal men’s cricket team is leaving for Sri Lanka on Sunday. The team will be playing three T20s with Sri Lanka ‘A’ during their six-day stay in Colombo until January 24. After that, they are scheduled to begin their practice sessions in Mumbai, India, on January 27.

“The sessions will be fruitful as we will be getting used to the conditions there,” Nepal’s skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel said during the team’s farewell function organised by the Cricket Association of Nepal on Saturday.

The Rhinos have been focused on World Cup preparation after a small window following the conclusion of the second season of the Nepal Premier League in mid-December. Before heading to Colombo, the team trained in Butwal for a week.

With the overall preparations, Paudel believes that the team “will make the country proud” in the main event, which begins on February 7.

“Wankhede is a high-scoring ground, and getting acclimated to the conditions of Mumbai before the World Cup would be a plus point,” Paudel said. “We are preparing based on the conditions and playing style we will need to implement there.”

Nepal will be facing the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) President XI twice at the ground of the Cricket Club of India (CCI). The first match is on January 29, while the second, on January 31, is a day/night fixture.

The ground of CCI refers to the historic Brabourne Cricket Stadium. Brabourne Cricket Stadium and Wankhede Stadium, the venue for Nepal’s group-stage matches of the World Cup, are less than a kilometre apart.

Speaking at the farewell, Stuart Law, Nepal men’s team’s head coach, echoed skipper Paudel, saying they were “looking forward to making this nation proud.”

“In Sri Lanka, we will work on our tuning and gameplay alongside selecting roles,” he said.

Law also stated that it was a big thing for not only players but also coaches and management staff to represent the country in the World Cup.

Nepal entered the Asia & EAP Qualifier for the 2026 T20 World Cup in Oman in October last year on a high. They had participated in the Top End Series in Australia and had beaten the West Indies 2-1 in a three-match T20I series in Sharjah, UAE.

Speaking at the function, CAN president Chatur Bahadur Chand noted that Nepal had qualified for the World Cup as the unbeaten team in the Asia & EAP Qualifier. “They have been busy with cricket in the international scene, and the NPL further helped improve their abilities,” he said. “We have a balanced team with no room for questions.”

Citing that the fans expected a series with a Test nation before the World Cup, Chand argued that the upcoming preparations in Sri Lanka and India were no less of an opportunity. “Sri Lanka Cricket has assured to field their best Sri Lanka ‘A’ team against Nepal. The team Nepal will practice with in Mumbai will also be a good one,” he said. “We all believe that our team will reach the Super 8 stage. I suggest the players take no pressure and just play good cricket in the World Cup.”

Chand added, “CAN believes that the Mumbai-based Wankhede Stadium would be filled with Nepali fans to cheer for the team and boost their morale.”

Similarly, Paras Khadka, CAN’s secretary and the captain of the Nepali team which debuted in the T20 World Cup in 2014, said that CAN believed in the team, their skills and the way they are moving forward.

“The results are in their place. The team has a bigger role in the World Cup,” Khadka said. “Nepali cricket players, on whom there are eyes from in and outside the country, are role models for many. So, the ways you behave, play and speak are going to impact many. We expect the team to uphold discipline in and outside the game, where we believe the players will show good cricket.”

Nepal are in Group C in the World Cup. Their group opponents include two-time T20 World Cup champions England and the West Indies alongside Bangladesh and Italy.

Giving away the previously assured cash prize of Rs2 million to the Rhinos during the farewell for the series win against the West Indies, Dr Sunil Sharma, former Nepali Congress lawmaker and medical businessman, assured further Rs2 million if the team reached Super 8 in the World Cup.