“No one bothers about them”- Aakash Chopra on the plight of associate nations after a brilliant showing by Nepal against England

Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned the top-ranked teams for failing to support the development of associate nations or lower-ranked teams following Nepal's tight defeat to England in their T20 World Cup 2026 match. He emphasized that in the time between two T20 World Cups, the future cricketing nations are overlooked. 

On Sunday, February 8, England defeated Nepal by four runs in a T20 World Cup 2026 Group C match played in Mumbai. After choosing to bat first, Harry Brook and company scored 184/7 and held the Rohit Paudel-led team to 180/6 in a thrilling finish.

Aakash Chopra opined that the lower-ranked teams aren't treated fairly between two T20 World Cups.

"I am going to talk about what we are doing with associate or slightly lower-ranked teams. It's token participation. It's a lip-service job. This is not an appreciation post, that they do well, and then you will remember them after two years. You will say, 'Well done, thank you, but we won't talk to you after this.

They came to the wedding and you forgot them after that. You don't even know where they are for the next two years. The lower-ranked teams have done well in every single game, but that won't remain the story, as we hear this story once in two years. We celebrate it, talk about it, and then we completely forget about it," Chopra stated on his YouTube channel.

He emphasized that because they lack expertise, lower-ranked teams struggle to finish games or keep up pressure when they are ahead of the opposition.

"It doesn't matter to us at all. We move on. We go to our homes and play our bilaterals and tournaments. No one bothers about them. When I see them crumbling under pressure, being unable to close the moments, or unable to maintain the pressure, these are things that happen," Chopra observed.

Associate teams won't learn unless they consistently play against strong teams, according to Aakash Chopra. He went on to say that it is the duty of the major cricketing nations to improve the up-and-coming teams by playing them.

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