Navi Mumbai, February 11 Italy will be without their regular captain, Wayne Madsen, who has been sidelined due to a dislocated shoulder, but staying at the same hotel as England will help them gather intelligence for their T20 World Cup clash against Nepal at Wankhede.
Debutants Italy will face Nepal in search of their first win in the T20 World Cup when the two teams will face off here at the Wankhede Stadium for an afternoon match.
On the eve of the game, Madsen confirmed that Harry Manenti, who led Italy in their opening match against Scotland, which they lost by a margin of 73 runs, will continue to step in for him.
"The scans have been pretty positive regarding the dislocation. I won't be playing tomorrow; we're going to give it another 48-72 hours to allow it to heal and give myself a chance to play next week," Madsen told reporters at the DY Patil Stadium ahead of Italy's training session.
"It's not an ideal situation at the start of the competition. But I'm hopeful that with some rest, I may still be able to play a part in this tournament. Harry Manenti, our vice-captain, will take over as captain," he added.
Former Canada player and current head coach of Italy, John Davison, revealed that the Italians would rely on the information shared by the England camp, since they share the same team hotel in Mumbai.
Italy, who played their opening match in Kolkata, could not train at the Wankhede Stadium since England and West Indies are scheduled to play an evening game at the venue.
"A few of the coaches and players have been here before. We're fortunate enough to be staying in the same hotel as the English team. So there were some good conversations this morning about the conditions and whatnot, which is helpful," he said.
"Obviously, it's going to be the first look at the stadium for many of the players arriving tomorrow (Thursday), which isn't ideal, but it is what it is. If we can adapt to the conditions, we'll play well," Davison added.
Madsen said that Italy aims to take a lot of lessons from this T20 World Cup.
"It really is (about) embracing this moment for us as players, as a cricket nation, and growing from it. The learnings from this will be crucial, and that's what we want to get out of it," he said.
Nepal's contest against England saw more than 17,000 fans in attendance, with the majority supporting the Rhinos.
"Clearly, there are a lot of Nepalese supporters who've come over and are going to be in the stadium and supporting their team. And that's something that we as players have to deal with," Madsen replied when asked if Nepal would have an advantage over Italy given the crowd support.
"The noise at Wankhede, looking at the England game, was pretty unreal. We need to embrace that, and that's the message to the guys. You're not going to play in front of atmospheres like this very often," he added.
Davison said, "We'd much prefer to play in front of 35,000 Nepalese fans than to play in front of no one, so it's a great experience."
