India slay spirited Nepal

India defeated Nepal by ten wickets and qualified for the Super Fours of the Asia Cup on Monday. So what?

It might be of satisfaction to those in the business of treating every Indian victory as one achieved out of personal perspiration, but to a sensible majority, it was yet another instance of one of the great teams in world cricket showing a side with little to no pedigree how it’s done, an education almost.   

That India were going to win this contest, which thankfully the rain relented long enough to allow, was a foregone conclusion so waxing lyrical about their victory borders on ignorance. 

What isn’t, however, is appreciating the verve with which Nepal showed India that they were not going to be treated as if they didn’t belong on the same field as the two-time World Champions in the first-ever outing between the teams. 

Now, that is as good as a victory for the ‘Cardiac Kids’. 

Nobody, not even themselves perhaps, would have anticipated that the Asia Cup virgins would put up 230 all out in 48.2 overs.  

One look at Rohit Sharma’s face and his child-like stomping off the field at the end of the innings was telling of the impact Nepal’s fight had on the Indian skipper. 

Of course, Nepal can - possibly should - omit the fact that Rohit’s men were atrocious on the field and ended up dropping three sitters inside the first five overs when narrating this piece of history in the future. But, how they went about after the reprieve is what will become the stuff of legends in a country whose population is less than half of Karnataka’s.   

Even the tireless groundsmen at the Pallekele stadium, who put on and removed the covers like lattice work on a pie four times over, took the backseat to Nepal’s brilliance on the day. 

But defending a revised 145 from 23 overs wasn’t going to go their way, not with Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill in a mood to show Nepal who the real boss was. They did so by scoring 147 runs from 20.1 overs with Rohit and Gill unbeaten on 74 and 67 respectively. 

One could argue that India were just going about their business, but that’s far from the truth because Rohit Paudel’s men did get under their skin. From Kushal Bhurtel (38) to Aasif Sheikh (58) to Sompal Kami (48), India’s bowlers were all made to look fairly beige on a rather colourful strip.

As the euphonious sounds of Nepalese songs swamped the near-empty stadium, the young bucks showed up as professionals and played without fear or meekness. Then again, they’re a team from the land of Gurkhas, we shouldn’t have thought any less of them. 

Then again, this is the Indian team, we shouldn’t expect any less from them either.