History Of Nepali Cricket

Cricket is Nepal's one of the most popular and widely followed sport which has gained popularity over the years. It rapidly grew popularity in the mid 2010s, following the slight successes of the Nepalese cricket team as well as the country's explosive rise in social media and television viewing influence from neighboring country India. It is played by many people throughout the country, especially in the Terai region.n 1920s Cricket was introduced to Nepal for the first time by Lt.-Gen.Madan Shumsher JBR youngest son of Rana Prime Minister Maharaja Chandra Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana. But at the time, cricket was considered a "gentleman's game" so was limited to the ruling Rana family members and some elites of Nepal. Though the game was kept within themselves and other members of the elite, the Cricket Association of Nepal was formed in 1946 to promote cricket amongst the aristocracy.

After the introduction of democracy through the Revolution of 1951, cricket began to spread to the rest of the population. In 1961, in an effort to promote cricket to the whole of Nepal, the Cricket Association of Nepal became part of the National Sports Council. Nevertheless, the National games tended to be limited to Kathmandu until the 1980s.

The biggest cricketing achievement of the national cricket team was when the team reached the qualification tournament of 2014 ICC World T20 held in Bangladesh. Nepal has appeared in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup twice in 2014 and 2024. They have also appeared in the Asia Cup in 2023 for tye first time and Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2022.

As of October 2023, there were 3,400 senior cricket clubs and over 35,000 registered players in Nepal.

1996-Present

Nepal became an Associate Member of the ICC in 1996, which was the year the national side played for the first time, in the ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur. Nepal finished fourth out of six teams in their first round group in this competition, beating Brunei and Japan. The achievement of this era was the historic win against Bangladesh in the 1999 ACC Trophy.

Nepal secured a 2002 Asia cup place but due to India Pakistan tension Asia cup didn't happen. During the 2004-2008 era Nepal U19 is at the peak. They beat New Zealand in the U19 World Cup. One of the significant turning points came in 2008 when they secured the ICC World Cricket League Division Five title.

Nepal played their first T20I World Cup in Bangladesh 2014 where they defeated Hong Kong and Afghanistan. Since then, Nepali cricket's fan following has been increasing day by day. At 2016 U19 World Cup Nepal performed outstanding and reached quarter final. In 2018 Nepal secured a ODI status for the next 5 years after the win against PNG in ICC ODI World Cup Qualifier at Zimbabwe.

2023 and 2024 has been a historic year for Nepali Cricket Team as they played thier first Asia Cup in 2023 and played their second T20 Worldcup held in U.S.A and West Indies in 2024 after a decade they first participated in 2014 T20 World Cup held in Bangladesh where they defeated Hongkong and Afganistan.