Former captain Malla retires from all forms of cricket

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 5: Former captain of the Nepali cricket team Gyanendra Malla announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Friday.

Organizing a press conference in Kathmandu, Malla announced his retirement coming into effect from today. 

Ending his 18 years cricket career, Malla said he will not play both domestic and international cricket. “I think it is appropriate time to quit the cricket. Young players are coming to the team. They are also performing well. So, it is the right time to step down from all forms of cricket,” Malla said. 

Malla made his debut in the national team against Namibia in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, a four-day tournament in 2006. He played his last match against Ireland on July 4, 2023, during the ICC One-Day World Cup Qualifiers. 

One of the most successful batsmen in Nepali cricket history, Malla has played 37 One Day Internationals from Nepal. He had scored 876 ODI runs with seven half-centuries. 

He scored a half-century on his debut in the historic ODI match against the Netherlands in 2018. Malla became the first Nepali batter to score a fifty in ODIs. 

He had played 45 Twenty20 Internationals and scored 883 runs with one century and two fifties in the short format. 

Malla played his first T20I against Hong Kong in 2009. The match against Kenya in 2022 was his last match in the shortest format.

He cracked 50 runs off 20 balls against Malaysia in 2019 to become the fastest T20I fifty scorer for Nepal. 

As his batting form declined, he has been getting fewer chances in the team recently. Two years after former captain Paras Khadka retired, Malla also took a break from the Nepali cricket team. After Paras left the captaincy, Malla led the Nepali cricket team from 2019 to 2021.

Malla captained 12 T20Is and 10 ODI matches. Under his captaincy, Nepal won nine and lost three T20I matches. He captained Nepal to six ODI wins and four losses. 

He was an important members of the team when Nepal won three titles from Division Five to Three, played in the Twenty20 World Cup in 2014 and received ODI international recognition in 2018. He also played for Nepal in U19 World Cup in 2006 and 2008.