3 player battles to watch out for in India vs Nepal, Match 5 of Asia Cup 2023

India are set to take on Nepal in a virtual knockout game in Group A of the Asia Cup 2023 in Pallekele on Monday, September 4. The Men in Blue shared points with Pakistan in their previous game as rain ensured that not even a single delivery of the second innings was possible.

Nepal, on the other hand, had to face a hammering from Pakistan in the Asia Cup opener as they lost to the hosts by 238 runs. It is an achievement for a cricketing nation like Nepal to compete with the best in Asia and they will want to produce a better performance against India.

On that note, let's take a look at the three player battles that could generate interest from the upcoming encounter between India and Nepal:

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#3 Rohit Paudel vs Mohammed Siraj

Nepal captain Rohit Paudel is arguably their best batter and has almost 1500 runs in his ODI career of 53 games, including eight fifties and a hundred. He will be a bit disappointed to have been dismissed for a golden duck against Pakistan and will be keen to produce a better showing against the Indian bowlers.

But Paudel is certain to face another stiff task in negotiating the new ball threat, this time against Mohammed Siraj. The Indian pacer has been sensational for the Men in Blue since 2022 and has arguably leapfrogged Mohammed Shami in the pecking order in ODIs. This will certainly be an interesting challenge for the Nepal captain.

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#2 Shubman Gill vs Karan KC

Karan KC was arguably the most impressive bowler from Nepal in their previous game against Pakistan. He got the ball to skid and hurried the batters even on a pitch that seemed like a belter. With conditions helpful for pacers in Pallekele, Karan could be more than a handful to handle.

This is what makes his match-up with Shubman Gill interesting. The youngster hasn't quite been consistent of late and the way he struggled against the new ball attack of Pakistan has naturally raised a few concerns. It will be interesting to see whether he overcomes the new-ball threat this time.

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#1 Virat Kohli vs Sandeep Lamichhane

Virat Kohli's game against wrist-spin has been a topic of debate over the past few years as he has seemed to struggle just a bit. Be it against Adam Zampa or Adil Rashid, while Kohli has also scored a lot of runs, he has sometimes found it difficult to read the ball or rotate the strike.

Nepal have a quality wrist spinner in Sandeep Lamicchane and they will bank on him to deliver against Kohli. The duo have played against each other before in T20s, with Kohli scoring 29 runs off 18 balls from Lamicchane without being dismissed even once. But it has been a while since they last faced each other and naturally that makes the match-up intriguing.