England enter the unknown in maiden encounter with Nepal

Ten years on from their improbable run to the World T20 final in Kolkata, England return to India with quiet expectation. While controversy swirls around their captain, Harry Brook, and what he did and did not get up to outside a nightclub on Halloween, the team that he oversees has found some stillness in the eye of the storm. With 10 wins in their last 11 completed T20Is, they are as ready as they can be for the challenge that lies ahead.

So too, for that matter, are their opening-night opponents. Eighteen months ago in St Vincent, Nepal came within a whisker of a stunning upset against the eventual World Cup finalists, South Africa. They return to the T20 World Cup stage with a battle-hardened unit, forewarned of the pressures but with proof of their worthiness, and with two successful seasons of the Nepal Premier League under their belts to rehearse those big-match moments.

Like England, they arrive on an impressive run of recent form, albeit six wins out of six against the likes of Kuwait, Japan and Qatar in September's qualifying tournament isn't exactly apples and pears. Nevertheless, they are here on merit, and very much on the rise, with a young, established captain in Rohit Paudel, and an attacking array of bowlers including the nippy Karan KC. A maiden international against England will be a proud moment in their development, but there's no reason to believe they should be daunted.

England have endured enough Associate hiccups down the years to take nothing for granted. But their confidence for this campaign won't simply be derived from their run of recent form. Their range of contributors has arguably been the most heartening aspect, with their spinners finding form and impact throughout the Sri Lanka series, including the back-up offerings of Will Jacks and Jacob Bethell, while their batting has shown depth, power and versatility ever since the summer, when - against South Africa at Old Trafford - they recorded the first 300-plus total in a Full Members' T20I.

England: WWWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Nepal: WWWWW

Brook would love to be able to parade England's T20I form as proof of their progress since he took over as white-ball captain. Unfortunately, those issues of team culture will not go away in what he admits has been a "horrendous" few weeks for him, which means this is perhaps not the ideal moment for his overdue return to India. Unusually for a modern-day superstar, Brook is a relative stranger in these parts. He missed England's last tour on compassionate grounds, and is currently serving a two-year ban from the IPL for reneging on his deal with Delhi Capitals. His solitary season, for Sunrisers Hyderabad, consisted of 90 runs in ten innings … and a startling 55-ball hundred against KKR, after which he missed his chance to endear himself to the locals by hitting out instead at his critics. He'll doubtless have similar urges in the coming weeks, if he gets half a chance. It promises to be eventful, one way or another.

Sandeep Lamichhane has endured his own off-field controversies, of a significantly more serious variety. In November 2023 he was convicted of rape and jailed for eight years, but his sentence was overturned on appeal the following May, just in time for his recall for Nepal's 2024 T20 World Cup campaign (though he was unable to secure a visa for the US and so missed their opening two games). He was already their best-known player, thanks to a cunning repertoire of legbreaks and googlies that have earned him nearly 250 T20 career wickets at little more than a run a ball. For all England's strengths, spin remains their glaring weakness, and he's a seasoned campaigner who will know how to exploit it.

True to form, England named their XI on the eve of the match. Phil Salt is fit again after a back spasm in Pallekele, and will open once again alongside Jos Buttler. Tom Banton keeps his place at No.4, ahead of Ben Duckett, while left-arm seamer Luke Wood gets an early outing ahead of Jamie Overton.

England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Tom Banton, 5 Harry Brook (capt), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Liam Dawson, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Luke Wood.

Nepal warmed up for this contest with two emphatic wins over UAE and Canada, with Aasif Sheikh impressing with a hard-hitting fifty from the top of the order in the latter contest.

Nepal (probable): 1 Aasif Sheikh (wk), 2 Kushal Bhurtel, 3 Rohit Paudel (capt), 4 Dipendra Airee, 5 Aarif Sheikh, 6 Gulsan Jha, 7 Karan KC, 8 Sompal Kami, 9 Sandeep Lamichhane, 10 Lalit Rajbanshi/Nandan Yadav, 11 Sher Malla

A turning deck at the Wankhede could be on the cards. As India demonstrated in their opening contest against USA, free-flowing strokeplay might not come quite as easily as England in particular might have hoped.

"All I do is hit a ball with a bat, and that's what I want to carry on doing for the rest of [my career] - 15, 20 years or whatever - and that's all it should be... Thankfully, I'm still pretty good at that.
England captain Harry Brook keeps his eye on the ball.