Puja Mahato: One of five players to watch in U19 WC

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 18: Puja Mahato, Nepal’s captain, is one of the five players to watch during the second edition of the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup kicking off in Malaysia today (January 18).

Of the 16 teams participating in the World Cup, Mahato was included in the Top 5 by the International Cricket Council (ICC). 

Puja is only the second Nepali women's batter to score a century in an international match. Puja scored her century against Kuwait in the Asian Qualifiers for the World Cup in December 2024; she was not out at 130 off 69.

Puja has also already played for the senior women’s team with the seniors optimistic of Puja’s skills despite a tender age. 

According to the ICC, Puja, who has captained Nepal to their first-ever U19 Women’s T20 World Cup by delivering some glittering individual performances along the way, will be the player to watch when she captains Nepal once more in Malaysia. 

Nepal had defeated Pakistan in January 2025 under the leadership of Puja during the group stage of the Asia Cup in Malaysia.

Alongside Puja, other players in the list of best five players include Australia’s Maggie Clark, England’s Jemima Spence, USA’s Ritu Singh and India’s G. Kamalini.

Nepal lost in the two warm-up games against the West Indies and the USA in the last few days but will look forward to winning and progressing to the next stage from the group with Bangladesh, Australia and Scotland as opponents.

Nepal is playing in one of the tournament openers on Saturday against Bangladesh. Bangladesh had defeated Nepal in the Asia Cup a month ago.