Having secured a historic quarter-final berth in the ICC U-19 World Cup, Nepal will be looking to retain winning form when they square up with another Test heavyweight India in their final Group ‘D’ match in Mirpur, Bangladesh on Monday.

Nepal’s only match against India was in 2000 Super Eight stage which the eventual champions won by eight wickets. The Indian side led by Mohammad Kaif also included Yuvraj Singh, who both would blaze their trail for the senior side.

The Indian U-19 squad has looked very promising as their clinical wins against Ireland (by 79 runs) and New Zealand (by 120 runs) suggest. Their top order has struggled to give a desired start but a strong middle order led by Sarfaraz Khan, who plays for Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bangalore. Khan has found able support from Arman Jaffer, Washington Sundar and Ricky Bhui as all of them were among the runs in both their victories.

But the mood of Team Nepal was that of confident as the players ahead of Monday’s match.

“We don’t really bother about playing against any team. India is a big cricketing nation, we’ve learnt so much of our art from them. We watch a lot of Indian cricket that goes around on TV so yes there is amount of respect for them but we are also looking to compete against them,” Binod Das, the bowling coach, told The Times of India.

“Our spin attack is one of the best in the tournament and that gives us a lot of confidence going into this game,” Nepal head coach Jagat Tamatta told the Post from Dhaka. He was referring to team’s leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, who picked up a hat-trick in his five-wicket haul against Ireland on Saturday. Spinners Dhamala, Sushil Kandel and Prem Tamang will be key for Nepal, while Raju Rijal, Aarif Sheikh and Dipendra Airee will once again be at the centre of Nepali batting.

Team’s batting, especially the top order, remains a concern. But Tamatta is not losing sleep over it and hopes his top order will get over inconsistent starts and fire on all cylinders. “We have nothing to lose. We will play our normal game,” he said.

A win for either side would mean they will go top of Group D and face the team that finishes second in Group A. Second-placed side in Group D will go up against the leader of Group A in the knockouts.

As of Sunday, Namibia have gone top of Group A with their victory over South Africa, while Bangladesh are second. If the tables remain the same, India will face hosts Bangladesh in Fatullah on February 6 while Nepal will face Namibia in Dhaka on February 5.