The Nepali cricket team achieved their first ever One-Day International (ODI) cricket series victory after defeating the United Arab Emirates last week. They followed up their winning ways by defeating the host nation again in the T20 international series on 3 February.
The 2-1 series win was Nepal's first international T20 victory.
The UAE cricket tour
When Nepal defeated the UAE in the third and final ODI competition on January 28, the victory became one for the record books, for the country and the players, some of whom broke their personal and a world record.
The historic victory saw Nepal’s 31-year-old captain Paras Khadka handing the country its first ever century as well, and in the process, he became the first Nepali player to do so in an ODI. He had scored 115 runs before being sent back to the pavilion.
However, it wasn’t just the captain who was able to cement his name in the history books.
In the second game of the series against the UAE, 16-year-old Nepali player Rohit Paudel became the youngest person to score a half-century in international cricket.
At 16 years and 146 days of age, Paudel made 55 runs off 58 balls and broke records set by India’s ‘little master’ Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistani star Sahid Afridi.
The now-retired Tendulkar scored 59 runs against Pakistan in 1989 when he was 16 years and 213 days old and Afridi scored 102 runs against Sri Lanka in 1996 when he was 16 years and 217 days old.
Rohit Paudel from Nepal is the youngest player ever to score an ODI half century beating previous record by India's Sachin Tendulkar. Getty/Nigel Roddis - IDI Source: Getty/Nigel Roddis - IDI
Could Nepal become a cricketing powerhouse?
Captain Paras Khadka certainly hopes so, telling the International Cricket Council (ICC) that “this is just the beginning,” after their one-day victory.
“[We have a] lot of good prospects in the future, [we] just need to keep pushing ourselves and hopefully we’ll come up with results like this in the future as well,” he said.
Nepal officially got its One-Day cricketing status in 2018 and has until 2022 to prove to the ICC that it could become a force to be reckoned with in the competitive world of international cricket.
Currently ranked 15th behind the UAE in the men’s ODI competition rankings, the Himalayan nation with a population of over 24 million aims to keep moving up the rankings.
In a Twitter message congratulating the Nepali team for their latest success, the country’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said his government will “increase their focus” to develop the sporting sector.
Journalist Hemanta Kafle has been following Nepal’s cricketing journey for more than two decades and says new generations of Nepali players are showing great skill with strong potential futures ahead of them.
Eighteen-year-old spin sensation Sandeep Lamichhane is currently playing in many international T20 franchises, including the highly popular Indian Premier League.
He recently also played for the Melbourne Stars for Australia’s Big Bash League and became a leading wicket-taker in the short amount of time he spent in Australia.
All-rounders Sompal Kami and Rohit Paudel are also now making their names known.
Sandeep Lamichhane with Nepali cricket fans during the Big Bash League match between the Melbourne Stars and the Melbourne Renegades. GETTY/Scott Barbour - CA Source: GETTY/Scott Barbour - CA
Hemanta Kafle says despite the lack of cricketing infrastructure and regular domestic leagues, Nepali players have great potential.
“Nepali cricket teams used to be good at bowling and fielding but their batting skills have also improved significantly,” he says.
“This will be a great asset in the future.”
