In a recently-concluded ICC board meeting, the governing body reinstated Nepal and Zimbabwe as full ICC members. Nepal were suspended in 2016 by the cricket governing body for breach of the ICC regulations which prohibits government interference and requires fair elections. Election of a 17-member central working committee for the Cricket Association of Nepal earlier this month paved the way for their re-admittance to the ICC full members.

ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar said, “Given the progress made in Nepal, a transition plan will now be developed for the Cricket Association of Nepal to support full compliance with Associate Membership criteria, which will also involve controlled funding," he was quoted as saying by ANI.

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Nepal’s journey in international cricket

ICC membership

Nepal became an ICC Associate member in 1996. The same year, the Nepal cricket team participated in a 12-team ACC Trophy tournament in Kuala Lumpur. However, the South Asian country finished the event at fourth position in Group A, winning just two of their five matches. Among all Associate members, Nepal has one of the biggest fan followings for the sport.

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T20I status

Nepal were awarded the T20I status by ICC on June 28, 2014. They also participated in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 held in Bangladesh. Nepal, however, failed to qualify for the Super 10’s as they were knocked out of the tournament in the first stage itself. Later that same year, the Nepal cricket team contested in their first-ever full-fledged T20I series against Hong Kong.

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ODI debut

In March 2018, the Nepal team now claimed One Day International (ODI) status after their performance in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. They faced Netherlands for their first-ever ODI match which was held at the VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen on August 1, 2018. Since then, the cricket team has played another five ODI matches with their latest one coming against UAE at the ICC Academy Ground earlier this year. After gaining the ICC status in both limited-overs formats, Nepal cricketer Paras Khadka said that now his team is looking to gain Test status, which the cricketer believes will take somewhere around eight to ten years to achieve.

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