The Sri Lanka national baseball team is set to face Nepal in their opener of the West Asia Baseball Cup 2023 today (27), as a formidable Sri Lanka outfit is set to begin the defence of their West Asia baseball cup campaign.

The Sri Lanka team commenced training for the tournament in 2022, as the tournament was scheduled to be held the previous year; however, the tournament got postponed on a number of occasions due to the pandemic.

The competent Sri Lankan team was picked following the national baseball tournament in September 2022. 

Pakistan are the tournament favourites with their firepower, given their player pool to pick from, with players representing clubs from around the world; Sri Lanka will need to pull a rabbit out of their cap if they are to surprise the hosts. 

It is notable that the Ministry of Sports has been supporting the baseball association throughout this period of time, providing accommodation and meals for the players and ensuring the players are well looked after. Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe, State Minister Rohana Dissanayake, Secretary to the Minister of Sports K. Maheeshan, and Director General Amal Edirisooriya were all pivotal in providing funding for the airfare of the players, ensuring their passage to Pakistan.

Sri Lanka will also take on India and Palestine tomorrow (28) and Sunday (29) respectively.