Such is the constant commotion in Mumbai, it would be inaccurate to say India’s opener in the 2026 T20 World Cup will bring the city to a standstill. But it has at least brought a pause to the plans of other participants in the competition who are based in the city.
Nepal had already opted out of training on Friday. They planned to do so on Saturday, only to cancel that session, too, because of the logistics of a cross-city commute while the hosts were playing.
The 6-9pm slot they had booked at DY Patil Stadium coincided with the start of India’s opening match against the United States across the city at Wankhede Stadium.
The two venues are around 35kms apart, but the weight of traffic on the roads in Mumbai at the best of times is vast.
Their team bus will have been going against the flow of traffic, with fans pouring into the Churchgate area of the city rather than out to Navi Mumbai, where the DY Patil Stadium is. But Nepal – and their opposition, too – felt it was more effort than it was worth.
Both sides have good reason to be content with their preparation, anyway. England claimed a fine series win in Sri Lanka as a tune-up for the World Cup.
Nepal, for their part, have been in fine form in the format for some time. They were clearly in fine working order when they thrashed the UAE by seven wickets, with three overs to spare, in their first official warm-up match before the World Cup.
Clearly, England offer a far different threat to that of the misfiring UAE side. They are loaded with T20 stars, and were T20 world champions four years ago.
England have two of the top three batters in the ICC rankings for T20 batters – Phil Salt and Jos Buttler. There is a fitness issue over the former, who suffered a back spasm this week.
The task is a challenging one for Nepal, but they have reason for cheer: they have beaten two-time T20 World Cup winners before, and in the recent past, too. They claimed an extraordinary series scalp of West Indies in Sharjah.
They will not start as favourites, but Rohit Paudel, their captain, knows that any scalps they can take in India will reverberate back at home.
Paudel pointed out that he and his colleagues were inspired by seeing Paras Khadka’s side debut on the world stage at the tournament in Bangladesh in 2014.
“I think this World Cup is very important for us, especially for me and the team,” Paudel said at the captain’s pre-tournament briefing earlier this week.
“Because after 10 years we qualified for the 2024 World Cup and consecutively we are playing the second one.
“The 2014 World Cup has inspired a lot of players from this group. And I think the same will happen to the next generation who will be watching us in this World Cup. We would like to give that impact to young generations.”
That win against West Indies in Sharjah was the first time Nepal had scalped a major Test-playing nation. They had come close in the past, most notably against South Africa at the T20 World Cup two years ago.
Paudel said that win against the West Indies gave his side the belief it can be done.
“For the last couple of years, we have been very close to beating Test-playing countries,” Paudel said.
“When we got that opportunity to play against West Indies in Sharjah, we came a few times very close to South Africa and Bangladesh.
“Beating West Indies in Sharjah gave a lot of confidence to the boys. We carry that confidence to this World Cup. We hope that we do well in this World Cup too.”
Will Jacks, the England allrounder, said his side will be aiming to make a statement of intent in their tournament opener against Nepal.
“The first game is majorly important; every single game in the World Cup is majorly important and for us, and it’s about hitting our straps quickly,” Jacks said.
“You don't get to make many mistakes and we've got other important games in that group and every single game matters.
“I know Nepalese cricket has grown a lot over the last few years. To have 20 teams in this World Cup I think is really good. To increase the number of teams is a really good thing, and having teams playing in their first edition is great for the game.”
