A huge honour for us to play at the Wankhede Stadium: Madsen

Italy captain Wayne Madsen, who suffered a shoulder injury during the team’s opening fixture of the T20 World Cup against Scotland, will miss the game against Nepal at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

While Madsen, who addressed the media on the eve of the game, was visibly upset about missing a crucial game, he made it clear that “to win in front of 35,000 people would be pretty special”. In his absence, Harry Manenti will lead the side, and hope to bring Italy’s campaign back on track after the 73-run loss to Scotland.

The Italy players, taking the field at the iconic venue for the first time in their career, will hope to prove a point. “It’s a huge honour for us to play at the Wankhede Stadium. What a famous stadium it is! The atmosphere is going to be pretty special,” Madsen said.

And having watched Nepal’s previous game against England at the same venue, where thousands of Nepali fans turned up to cheer for their team, Madsen expects the same.

“We know a lot of Nepali fans are going to be supporting their team. And that’s something that we have to deal with. And a lot of us do have experience of dealing with big crowds,” Madsen said, adding: “The noise at the Wankhede, looking at the England game was pretty unreal. And we’ve got to embrace that. And that’s going to be the message to the guys…”

For Nepal, it will be about learning from the mistakes. The team fell agonisingly short of stunning England, and captain Rohit Paudel believes that ‘handling pressure and executing the plan in crunch times will be the key going forward’.

As the competition intensifies, both teams have lots to play for.