There is supposedly only one exclusive El Clásico in the world: when two of the world’s most-loved football clubs and great rivals based in Spain—Real Madrid face Barcelona—go head to head. What the Spaniards call El Clásico literally translates to ‘The Classic’.

However, for the past few years, the Spanish word has started being referred to another rivalry, that too in another sport, on another continent.

A cricket match between Nepal and the UAE has been referred to as ‘El Clásico’ nowadays. And to make it distinct from the football rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona, Nepal vs the UAE is called the ‘Associate El Clásico’.

“With the semi-final of the ACC Premier Cup upon us, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) renew their intense rivalry on the cricket field,” Andrew Leonard, a cricket commentator from Ireland with a huge fan following in Nepal, wrote on Facebook on April 18, 2024. The “Associate El Clasico” rivalry is one of the great modern rivalries in cricket, he observed. He had posted a video comprising highlights of four of the most epic encounters between Nepal and the UAE in 2023.

Nepal lost to the UAE by six wickets in the semi-final played in Oman on April 19, 2024.

And the rivalry is returning. On Monday, the home of Nepali cricket—the TU International Cricket Stadium—will host the first of the two T20 friendlies between Nepal and the UAE. Further, the matches will be played under floodlights, making the rivalry the first international fixture under the lights at the TU Stadium.

“El Clásico under Floodlights” is what the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has been branding the two-match T20I series between Nepal and the UAE. The matches will begin at 5pm on April 20 and 21.

Nepal and the UAE have faced each other 11 times in T20Is. Of them, Nepal have won six matches. In ODIs, Nepal and the UAE have played 17 matches to date, with Nepal winning nine.

The tight number of wins between the two teams makes the rivalry more evident.

And Nepal, on Friday, announced two well-studied squads—one for the friendly T20I series with the UAE, and the other for the CWC League 2 tri-series comprising the UAE and Oman, which kicks off on April 25 with Nepal vs UAE.

Moreover, CAN announced two separate captains for limited-overs cricket—Rohit Kumar Paudel for one-day and Dipendra Singh Airee for T20. While Paudel is not included in the T20 squad for now, Airee will be his vice-captain during the League 2 tri-series.

After the T20I series with the UAE, the League 2 tri-series involving Nepal, UAE and Oman will begin with another El Clásico on April 25. It will end with Nepal vs Oman on May 5. Then, from May 12 to 22, Nepal will host Scotland and the USA for another League 2 tri-series.

Variations in squads

Head coach Stuart Law has a major challenge ahead of him with Nepal sitting second-to-last in the ICC CWC League 2, comprising eight teams.

However, to put up a good display of cricket, Law and Nepal’s selectors seem to have spent a good deal of time selecting players.

It is probably the first time that Nepali cricket has had such a diverse squad for T20 and one-day formats.

Among the 15-member squad for the T20I series and League 2 tri-series, only six players—Airee, Kushal Bhurtel, Aarif Sheikh, Basir Ahmad, Gulshan Kumar Jha and Sandeep Lamichhane—have been repeated. It means that nine are playing only in either the T20I series or League 2.

Further, two players have received their maiden call for the national team in T20. Santosh Yadav and Hemant Dhami will be making their debut for the national team if they are included in the playing set against the UAE. Yadav was the player of the series in the 2026 Men’s PM Cup, and Dhami was the highest wickettaker.

Similarly, Arjun Kumal, the 20-year-old batter, has also been called to the national team for the first time in the League 2 tri-series.

Binod Bhandari has also made his return to the national team as Law has decided to see him in action in the League 2 tri-series. Bhandari, who debuted for Nepal in ODIs against the UAE in January 2019, last played 50-over cricket in red and blue against Scotland in July 2022.

Bhandari, 36, has been proving his skills in the domestic tournaments—Nepal Premier League, Men’s PM Cup and Jay Trophy.

Called for the T20 squad, Arjun Saud, Kushal Malla and Shahab Alam are also making their return to the national team.

Saud’s last T20I match with Nepal was on August 30, 2022. Alam last represented Nepal in the historical T20I series against the West Indies in Sharjah on September 30 last year. Malla, one of the five batters with 1,000+ T20I runs for Nepal, has returned to the squad after his 59th T20I against Oman in the T20 World Cup Asia & EAP Qualifier in October last year.

The list also suggests that Law has prioritised players based on their preference.

Despite being the skipper, Paudel has not been able to prove himself as a T20 batter, someone who scores as many runs as possible in limited overs. Thus, he has only been included in one-day cricket, as he likes playing calculated shots, taking his time, similar to Aasif Sheikh, Bhandari, and Kumal.

Kumal (504 runs), Sheikh (457 runs) and Bhandari (404 runs) were the top three run scorers in the 2026 Men’s PM Cup.

Paudel is the third-highest run scorer for Nepal in T20Is, with 1,720 runs in 80 matches (76 innings). Similarly, Paudel, who led Nepal to consecutive T20 World Cups in 2024 and 22026, had 33 wins as Nepal’s captain in 59 T20Is.

On the other hand, players like Malla, Lokesh Bam and Sundeep Jora have been included only in the T20 squad as they like hitting big in every delivery.

Law has also kept three reserve players in the T20 squad—Pratish GC, Narayan Joshi and Rashid Khan. For League 2, Dhami, Sher Malla, Rijan Dhakal, Ishan Pandey and Dev Khanal are the reserves.

For Nepal, the return of the Associate El Clásico is more than a friendly series—it is the starting point of a rebuilding phase where rivalry, experimentation and results must finally align.

T20 squad: Dipendra Singh Airee (C), Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Sundeep Jora, Aarif Sheikh, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Lokesh Bam, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nandan Yadav, Santosh Yadav, Arjun Saud, Hemant Dhami, Shahab Alam and Sher Malla

League 2 squad: Rohit Kumar Paudel (C), Dipendra Singh Airee (VC), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh, Basir Ahmad, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Sompal Kami, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Binod Bhandari, Arjun Kumal, Nandan Yadav and Karan KC