Paras Khadka’s Journey From Kathmandu to World Cricket

Some rise up to become stars, while others are genuinely born stars!

Nepal has produced one of the finest cricketers in the world cricket history and one of such legends is the Nepal Cricket Team Captain Paras Khadka! We all know how instrumental Khadka’s contribution has been in taking Nepali cricket to the level it is today.

Cricket is a craze in Nepal, after Football of course and has seen some new heights at the global level, majorly because of a few aspirants like Shakti Gauchan and Sandeep Lamichhane among others.

And, no doubt! Khadka’s role has always been instrumental!

Paras Khadka’s Cricketing Journey

Even before playing for the senior side, Kathmandu-based cricketer Khadka first represented Nepal at the U-15 Level, where he played in the Under-15 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates in December 2002.

This was followed by his participation in Nepal Under-19 cricket in 2003 against India and the 2003 Youth Asia Cup in Karachi. However, Khadka, an all-rounder player, started his main cricketing career with a match against Malaysia in the 2004 ICC Intercontinental Cup in April 2004, which established him as a ‘player of finesse’ and his first senior match was classified as ‘first-class debut’.

Khadka also leads the departmental side Armed Police Force (APF) in domestic cricket.

Paras Khadka’s Honors and Titles

Khadka has registered a series of remarkable achievements and unforgettable games in his cricket journey. Here are some of them:

• In 2012, Khadka played for Nepal at the 2012 ACC Trophy Elite and secured a score of 291 runs with an average of 72.75 and took 9 opponent wickets. This was also the first time that the multi-talented cricketer registered a century in a match against Kuwait. Subsequently, he was named Player of the Tournament
• For the second time, Khadka was named ‘Player of the Tournament’ in the 2013 ACC Twenty20 Cup where he secured a total of 207 runs with an average 41.40
• In the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 tournament in Bangladesh, Khadka became the eighth player in the T20I history to a take wicket within the very first ball of his career
• In 2018, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli felicitated Paras Khadka along with other cricketers for their performances in the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division-2 tournament
• In July 2018, he was chosen the captain of Nepal’s squad for the One Day International (ODI) series against the Netherlands. This was Nepal’s first ODI matches since its achievement of ODI status during the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier
• Following this, Khadka was also named the captain of Nepal’s squad for the 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier tournament and Nepal’s squad in the Eastern sub-region group for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Asia Qualifier tournament in August and October 2018 respectively
• In the wake of November 2018, the ICC featured four Nepali cricketers in its International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 rankings 2018. Khadka was among them and at the 94^th
• Earlier in May 2018, Paras Khadka was honored with the Player of the Year award during the Pulsar Sports Awards 2075, leaving behind his teammate Sandeep Lamichhane and several other sportsmen
• In March 2018, the ICC named skipper Paras Khadka as one of the 11 brightest stars in the group stage matches of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. Khadka was chosen among the Top 11 for his consistency in batting

Besides these achievements Paras has been honored with:

• NSFJ Pulsar Player of the Year 2066 BS
• NSFJ Pulsar Player of the Year 2069 BS
• NSFJ Pulsar Player of the Year 2070 BS
• NNIPA Best cricketer of the Year 2017
• NSFJ Pulsar Player of the Year 2075 BS

Role in Ending Corruption in Nepal’s Cricket Administration

During his career as Nepal cricketer and team captain, Khadka was disappointed with the way the then Nepal cricketing body, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) was functioning. In May 2010, he raised a boycott along with 18 member national cricket team and declared that they will not play the national league.

This was followed by another boycott in 2014 which stressed on restructuring CAN and provision of better facilities for the players. The two successive boycotts led to the dissolution of CAN and its implication into a controversy of financial mismanagement.

On an EndNote

Fortunately, Nepali Cricket has seen some glorious days and will continue to do so under the able leadership of Paras Khadka! All The Best!