Cricket Association of Nepal has decided to retire jersey number 77 in honor of former Nepal captain Paras Khadka, who recently announced retirement after having represented the country in 10 ODIs and 33 T20Is.
33-year old Khadka represented Nepal U15 in 2002. He served as the captain of the country for a decade from 2009-2019. He has scored 799 runs in T20 Internationals and 315 in ODIs, and is the leading run-scorer for his country in both the formats.
He is also the only player from Nepal to score a century in both the formats.
In 44 List A matches, Khadka scored 1497 runs at 35.64 with three centuries and nine half-centuries, while he had 1317 runs in T20 cricket.
It was under his leadership that Nepal cricket rose to new heights. The team made a mark at associate level by qualifying for the T20 World Cup in 2014 and acquired ODI status in 2018. Khadka also led his country to their first ODI series win against UAE in 2019. He also led his team to 11 T20I wins in the 26 matches that he captained.
Khadka released a retirement statement in which he said that playing for Nepal was his biggest achievement.
“Playing for Nepal has been my biggest achievement and for that, I will always be indebted towards my coaches, players, fans, stakeholders, friends and family for their continuous support over the last 18 years since I started as a young 15-year-old, back in 2002,” Khadka said in a statement on his Twitter account earlier this week.
He said that it was time that he had given his heart and blood and soul for the sport and it was now the time to retire.
“Why now? Because it’s about time. As a cricketer, I have given my heart, blood, and soul and have always dreamt to achieve better for my country. My ultimate dream is to see Nepal have a better cricketing system for which I have spent all my energy in the last two decades and to improve it will require equal support from everyone in the cricketing community and beyond. I believe with everyone’s honest effort and intention; we will be able to do so,” he concluded.
He also thanked Cricket Association of Nepal for retiring his jersey number in another tweet.
