Sandeep Lamichhane To Rohit Paudel: Nepal Cricket Team Captains

In frame: New captain Sandeep Lamichhane (left); former captain Rohit Paudel {Source: AFP} 

On Monday, August 10, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) announced a 14-member squad for the ACC Men’s Premier Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Malaysia from August 30 to September 12.

During the squad announcement, veteran legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane found himself once again at the captaincy helm, replacing Rohit Paudel as Nepal’s ODI captain.

For the uninitiated, it will be Lamichhane’s second stint as Nepal’s captain.  

Rohit Paudel’s glorious captaincy tenure comes to an end

Right after his appointment as Nepal's captain, Paudel fuelled success during his tenure, helping Nepal win 11 of the 12 ODI matches in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 to achieve a berth at the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in June 2023, providing a reliable and valued anchor in the batting order.

Paudel played a key role in Nepal finishing third in the competition, scoring 909 runs in 33 matches. The top-three finishes also secured Nepal’s qualification for the ICC ODI World Cup Qualifier for the first time, where Nepal faced Test-playing nations West Indies and Zimbabwe.

In 2023, Nepal won the ACC Premier Cup for the first time under Paudel. The victory earned the team a place in the ACC Asia Cup, where Nepal played India and Pakistan in the ODI format for the first time.

Nepal’s progress under Rohit Paudel was even more notable in T20Is. During his tenure, Nepal qualified for two consecutive ICC T20 World Cups and won the ICC T20 World Cup Asia and EAP Qualifier title for the first time.

Paudel also led Nepal to their first T20I series victory over a Test-playing nation, beating the West Indies 2-1 in a three-match series in September.

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Paudel was 20 years and 73 days old when he became Nepal’s ODI captain, making him the second-youngest captain in ODI history. Only Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, who took over at 19 years and 165 days, was younger.

Paudel went on to become Nepal’s most experienced international captain, leading the team in a record 122 matches across ODIs and T20Is.

Along the same lines, in this article, let’s take a look at the list of Nepal cricket captains over the years.

Nepal Cricket Team Captains 

1) Paras Khadka

Paras Khadka debuted in the senior team in the year 2004 and was appointed captain in 2009 when he was just 22. Under his captaincy, Nepal won ICC World Cricket League Division 5 for the first time.

Since getting T20I and ODI statuses in 2014 and 2018, respectively, Nepal played 33 matches under Khadka.

In 2019, Khadka stepped down as the captain, making the announcement via an X (formerly Twitter) post on October 15. The resignation came a day after the International Cricket Council (ICC) restored Nepal’s membership by provisionally lifting a ban on the Nepal Cricket Council, now the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN).

Nonetheless, Paras Khadka, to date, is considered the most celebrated and the most successful player in the history of cricket in Nepal.

2) Gyanendra Malla

The cricketer was appointed as the national team captain in November 2019. Under his leadership, Nepal competed in the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Bangladesh, as well as the 2019 South Asian Games. However, he was stripped of captaincy due to disciplinary issues in December 2021.

Notably, Malla was one of the last members of Nepal’s golden generation that did more than just win games. They entertained the Nepali audience and gave the fans the belief that anything is possible. 

Evidence of that is how they qualified for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, inspiring a new generation of cricketers in the process.

3) Sandeep Lamichhane

The highly experienced leg-spin bowler Sandeep Lamichhane has been given the captaincy reins, replacing Rohit Paudel, who lost ODI captaincy because of a poor run of form in the 50-over format, highlighted by four successive defeats in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 that dropped Nepal to seventh place.

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Lamichhane’s first captaincy tenure was cut short in 2022, when CAN had suspended him after an arrest warrant was issued against him. In 2023, a Kathmandu district court found him guilty of rape. In 2024, the Patan High Court acquitted him because of “a lack of evidence”.

At the time of suspension, Lamichhane was Nepal’s captain in both white-ball formats.

4) Rohit Paudel

Rohit Kumar Paudel assumed the leadership of Nepal’s national cricket team in 2022, taking the charge at an extremely difficult time for the side.

Following the rape allegations against cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, at just 20, Paudel was unexpectedly asked to take on the reins of a Nepal team that was struggling in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2. His appointment, however, coincided with a significant improvement in the team’s performances.

He captained Nepal in 63 ODIs, recording 31 wins, 30 losses and two tied or no-result matches. In 59 T20Is, Nepal recorded 33 wins, 21 losses and three tied or no-result matches under his leadership.

5) Dipendra Singh Airee

Following Paudel’s departure, Dipendra Singh Airee has been named the permanent T20I captain of Nepal, leading the national side as the fifth official T20I skipper in the team's history.

Before this, he had led Nepal in 6 games, winning 5 of them. However, he is known for his phenomenal batting. record for the fastest fifty in T20I history, achieved off just 9 balls against Mongolia during the 2023 Asian Games, and he is recognised as one of the top all-rounders and fielders in international T20 cricket.

Nepal Captains List in T20Is and ODIs

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