Nepal national cricket teamsWomen's Men's Men's AWomen's U19 Men's U19
The Nepal men's national cricket team () represents Nepal in men's International cricket and is governed by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).They have been an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1996. Nepal were awarded Twenty20 International (T20I) status by the ICC in 2014 and earned One Day International (ODI) status in 2018.
Nepal has played 95 ODI matches, winning 46, losing 46, tying 1 and with 2 ending in a no-result. As of 12 September 2026, Nepal is ranked 17th in the ICC ODI Championship on 28 rating points. Nepal has not qualified for any edition of the Cricket World Cup, however they have appeared in World Cup Qualifier 3 times.
The team has also played 124 Twenty20 International matches, winning 72, losing 45, tying 3 and with 4 ending in a no-result. As of 25 September 2026, Nepal is ranked 14th in the ICC T20I Championship on 181 rating points. Nepal has appeared in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup three times in 2014, 2024 and 2026. They have also appeared in the Asia Cup in 2023 and Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2022.
History
Beginnings According to the 1877 book, History of Nepal edited by Daniel Wright: Over time, cricket came to be considered a gentleman's sport, and involvement was limited mainly to the ruling Rana family and other members of the Nepali elite.
In 1946, the Cricket Association of Nepal was formed 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 Valley until the 1980s.Encyclopedia of World Cricket by Roy Morgan, Sports Books Publishing, 2007
ICC membership
Improvements to communications and transport infrastructure in Nepal allowed the game to expand outside Kathmandu in the 1980s and Nepal became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council in 1988. A major development program was begun in the early 1990s, which saw regional and district tournaments being established and the increased promotion of cricket in schools.
The local population's interest in cricket increased quickly, and the demand to play was such that restrictions had to be placed on the number of teams in several tournaments until more facilities could be built in the mid-1990s. Nepal became an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council on February 2, 1996, which was the year the national team played for the first time in the 1996 ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur.
By 1998, the facilities in Nepal had improved sufficiently to allow them to host that year's ACC Trophy at grounds in Lalitpur and Kirtipur (at TU Cricket Ground) and Kathmandu.
Currently, the country has one of the best fan followings among ICC Associate Members. It lost for three years its governing body, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) which was suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to unnecessary government interference in 2016, but it was reinstated in October 2019.
21st century
2000 – 2009
In 2000, Nepal's youth development policy began to pay off when the Nepal national under-19 cricket team finished eighth in the Under-19 World Cup. The senior team had their best performance to date later in the year when they reached the semi-finals of the 2000 ACC Trophy before losing to Hong Kong at Sharjah. They competed in the ICC Trophy for the first time the following year. In the tournament in Ontario, they beat Germany and Gibraltar, but a loss to eventual runners-up Namibia prevented them from progressing past the first round.
Nepal were runners-up to the UAE in the 2002 ACC Trophy in Singapore and they hosted the ACC Emerging Nations Tournament in 2003, winning easily against Bhutan and the Maldives. They won so comprehensively that they were not invited back to the tournament the next time it was played in 2005. Raju Khadka became the first Nepalese cricketer to score an international century, when he slammed an unbeaten 105 off just 50 balls against Bhutan in the tournament.
Nepal played first-class cricket for the first time in 2004, playing in the ICC Intercontinental Cup against the UAE and Malaysia. They beat Malaysia, but drew with the UAE, failing to reach the semi-final stage. Nepal finished third in the 2004 ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament, which qualified them for the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup, and finished 5th in the 2004 ACC Trophy, which qualified them for the repêchage tournament of the 2005 ICC Trophy. They finished third in this tournament after beating Qatar in a play-off, meaning that they did not qualify for the 2005 ICC Trophy. Shakti Gauchan scored a century against Italy and stayed unbeaten on 106 off 103 balls in the tournament. They beat the UAE and drew with Hong Kong in the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup, but missed out on qualification for the semi-finals by half a point. They were runners-up to the UAE in the 2005 ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament.
In March 2006, Nepal played Namibia in Windhoek in a play-off match to decide the final team in the 2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup. Nepal needed to win outright to qualify for the main tournament, but the match was drawn after there was no play on the first day. Later in the year, they toured Pakistan, playing against the Pakistan Cricket Academy before playing in the 2006 ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur.
In the 2006 ACC Trophy, Nepal bowled Myanmar out for just 10 runs off 12.1 overs after winning the toss and sending Myanmar in; no batsman scored more than one, the innings included five ducks, with a top score of five extras (three leg byes and two wides). Mehboob Alam and Binod Das picked up seven and three wickets, respectively. In reply, Nepal hit three off the first ball, followed by three wides that went for five, and then hit another three from the second legitimate delivery to win by ten wickets. Some critics called it the greatest mismatch in the history of international cricket and the score of 10 is the lowest in any level of men's international cricket. They finished fourth in the tournament after losing to Afghanistan in a play-off. They won the ACC Premier League in 2006.
They played in the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup in Kuwait, where they finished fourth in their first round group.
In May 2008, Nepal traveled to Jersey to play in 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five of the World Cricket League. Mehboob Alam set the world record by taking all ten wickets in the match against Mozambique. He got his name in the Guinness World Records for this, becoming the first bowler to take all 10 wickets in an ICC international cricket match with limited overs. Nepal topped Group A after the group qualifying matches but lost to Afghanistan in the semi-final and finished third overall after defeating the USA in the playoff for third place. With only the top two from this tournament qualifying for 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four in Tanzania later in the year, Nepal missed out on the chance to take their 2011 World Cup dream any further. Later, Nepal appeared in the 2008 ACC Trophy Elite and finished fourth after losing to the UAE in the semi-final and to Afghanistan in the playoff for third place.
Nepal finished fifth in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup after beating Singapore by 9 wickets in the playoff for fifth place. In a group match against Kuwait, Nepal needed 7 runs off the last ball to win. Binod Bhandari, making his debut for the national team, hit a last-ball six to tie the match. Eventually Nepal won the match in bowl-out.
2010 – 2014 Nepal won their first major tournament, beating USA in the final of 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Five held at Kathmandu in February 2010. Sharad Vesawkar scored a century and stayed unbeaten on 105 off 134 balls against Fiji in the tournament. Nepal played very well in 2010 ACC Trophy Elite, winning all the matches in group stage and beating Malaysia in the semi-final by 8 runs but lost the final against an ODI team Afghanistan by 95 runs and finished runners-up. Nepal came third in 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Four, thus remaining in Division Four for 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four. In November, Nepal appeared in 2010 Asian Games and lost against Sri Lanka in the quarter-final. It was the first match Nepal had played against a Full Member nation.
In December 2011, Nepal hosted the 2011 ACC Twenty20 Cup and finished fourth, thereby qualifying for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.
Nepal faced Afghanistan in the 3 match T20I series and 5 match ODI series at the start of 2012 but Afghanistan defeated Nepal 3-0 in the T20I series and again defeated Nepal 5-0 in the ODI series.Afghanistan defeats Nepal 3-0 in the T20I series and 5-0 in the ODI series in 2012.
Nepal finished seventh in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier after defeating Kenya and Papua New Guinea in play-offs. Shakti Gauchan took the first international hat-trick for Nepal against Denmark in the tournament. In September 2012, Nepal appeared in 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four, where Subash Khakurel and Anil Mandal each scored a century. Subash Khakurel scored 115 off 142 balls against United States and Anil Mandal scored 113 off 134 balls against Denmark. In a match against Malaysia, Shakti Gauchan set up Nepal's convincing victory with a new record. The left-arm orthodox spinner's figures of 10–8–2–3 is the best economical bowling spell ever in limited over encounters. Nepal won all the six matches of the tournament and progressed to 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three. Nepalese players won man of the match awards in all the six matches Nepal played and Basanta Regmi won the player of the tournament award after taking a total of 21 wickets in the tournament. In October, Nepal competed in 2012 ACC Trophy Elite and had to share the trophy with the UAE after a thrilling tied final in Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE on 12 October 2012. UAE posted 241, a target that looked in Nepal's sight after their 94-run opening stand. However, they lost wickets consistently, and eventually needed 12 off the last over with just two wickets in hand. Shakti Gauchan smacked Shadeep Silva's left-arm for a six, but could manage only one run off the last ball, hence ending a splendid final match in a tie. Skipper Paras Khadka scored an unbeaten 106 off just 77 balls against Kuwait, his maiden century for Nepal, in the tournament.