The Nepal men’s national cricket team represents the country of Nepal in International cricket and is governed by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). They are Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1996. Nepal were awarded Twenty20 International (T20I) status by the ICC in June 2014 until the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and One Day International (ODI) status from 2018. They are nicknamed as “The Cardiac Kids” for their tendency to pickup nail biting victories and “Rhinos” as the emblem of Cricket Association of Nepal contains One horned Rhino; an animal Nepal is popular for.
History
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 until the 1980s.
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 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 side played for the first time in the 1996 ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur. Nepal finished fourth out of six teams in their first round group, beating Brunei and Japan.
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. Nepal themselves were unsuccessful in the tournament, going without a win.
Currently, the country has one of the best fan followings among ICC Associate Members. It lost 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.
