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MUMBAI, India – West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein has promised that the regional team will not drop its guard when they come up against minnows Nepal in their crucial ICC Men’s T20 World Cup contest on Sunday (February 15).
The unbeaten Windies sit atop Group C following wins over Scotland and England, and victory over Nepal will book their spot in the Super Six phase of the tournament.
Hosein, however, will know first-hand that Nepal cannot be taken lightly. He led an under-strength West Indies side to the United Arab Emirates last September in a three-match T20I series against them, which they shockingly lost 2-1.
Nepal also came within one boundary of defeating England in their opening match of the World Cup, before agonisingly losing by four runs.
Speaking in a pre-match press conference on Saturday ahead of their clash at the Wankhede Stadium, Hosein said the Windies would not be underestimating Nepal.
“I think you could see from the start of the tournament in the first round, most of the bigger teams were in a spot of bother, so in this World Cup it’s not one to take anyone lightly.
“Preparation is going to be the same, mindset is going to be the same, and it’s just about executing. At the end of the day, it’s a World Cup and these teams had to do what they had to do to get to the World Cup, so it’s not about taking anyone for granted. It’s about going out there and playing another cricket match against out opposition, not so much coming up against a name,” Hosein said.
“…It’s no big team or no small team. At the end of the day, it’s who plays the best cricket on the day, and like I keep saying, that’s how we’re going to treat it.”
Hosein pointed out that despite their status as Associate Members, Nepal was a very capable unit.
He said even though they had lost both of their matches in the tournament so far, they were still especially dangerous considering the fact that they had nothing to lose.
“I think they are a well-gelled unit. If you check the amount of games they’ve played together, it’s quite a lot.
“Yes, they did defeat us in Sharjah, but most of our seniors weren’t there, so it’s a match we’re looking forward to. But we know what they can do, we know what they’re capable of, we saw it in the last couple games, and we know they’re a tight-knitted unit,” Hosein said.
“We know on the day you know have to play your best cricket no matter if you think it’s just Nepal you’re coming up against. These guys know the ins and outs of their players, they know how to play, so we’re going to treat it as such.
“I don’t think Nepal has anything to lose at any stage of the World Cup. For them, it’s about coming here and showing the rest of the world what they can do and that they can compete, so for us if we play them in our first game or if we play them in our last game, we have one goal, we have one mission, and to win the World Cup we have to beat each team,” he added.
CMC
Squads
West Indies Squad: Brandon King, Shai Hope(wicketkeeper/captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Johnson Charles, Matthew Forde, Jayden Seales, Quentin Sampson
Nepal Squad: Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh(wicketkeeper), Rohit Paudel(captain), Dipendra Singh Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Lokesh Bam, Gulsan Jha, Karan KC, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sompal Kami, Sundeep Jora, Sher Malla, Basir Ahamad
English (US) ·