Nepal’s combination of rising international performance, extraordinary public support and an expanding domestic cricket economy has convinced the ICC that the Associate nation has the potential to follow Afghanistan’s path towards the upper levels of the global game.
The ICC has invested nearly US$5 million in Nepal’s cricket development over the past two years and awarded the country co-hosting rights for next year’s Under-19 Women’s World Cup. Those commitments come as Nepal attempts to turn a passionate cricket culture into sustained progress on the field and a stronger domestic structure away from it.
ICC sees Nepal belonging on the global stage
ICC Chief Executive Sanjog Gupta told Reuters: “They could be tomorrow’s Afghanistan, or tomorrow’s New Zealand for that matter.”
The governing body’s optimism is also rooted in the players emerging through its development system. Gupta added: “They have developed an elite player pool which is consistently breaking through the ICC pathways and not only featuring at our marquee events, but proving that they belong on the global stage.”
For the ICC, Nepal’s opportunity is driven less by the size of its commercial market than by the combination of improving results and the reach cricket already enjoys among the country’s supporters. Gupta explained: “Not because the country is a significant commercial market, but because of their rapidly improving standards of performance and the scale of fandom the sport enjoys in the country.”
That supporter base is viewed as an asset extending beyond attendance and immediate interest, with the scale of today’s following also offering a potential foundation for developing future generations of players.
Gupta noted: “Nepal benefits from the biggest endowment any sport can wish for – a large, deeply passionate fan base.”
The strength of that following was visible at the 2026 T20 World Cup in India. Nepal defeated Scotland by seven wickets to record its first victory on that stage since 2014, although both teams had already been eliminated from the tournament.
Gupta recalled: “One of my personal highlights from the Twenty20 World Cup 2026 was the sea of red at the Wankhede (Stadium), which had turned up to support Nepal against Scotland.”
World Cup breakthrough transformed cricket’s reach
Nepal’s first qualification for the T20 World Cup in 2014 proved pivotal to the sport’s domestic growth. In a region containing established cricket powers India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, reaching the tournament gave Nepal a national team competing on a major global platform.
The impact extended well beyond that tournament. Nepal subsequently secured ODI status in 2018, while cricket grew past football to become the country’s most popular sport.
Former Nepal Captain and Cricket Association of Nepal Secretary Paras Khadka told Reuters: “Qualification meant people started to have faith in the team. All of a sudden, it brought out national sentiments, and a sense of pride in Nepalis.”
Khadka, who captained Nepal for more than a decade before stepping down in 2019, is now involved in the administrative effort to build on that public enthusiasm. A central part of the strategy is the Nepal Premier League, which has completed two seasons and generated revenue that can be channelled back into the game.
Nepal Premier League builds a commercial foundation
The NPL has emerged as an important component of Nepal’s plans to create greater financial capacity for cricket development. Khadka views the domestic T20 competition as pivotal to the country’s longer-term growth, particularly if its commercial momentum can be converted into investment across the wider cricket system.
Khadka said: “Whatever money NPL generated has been used in cricket itself. It’s a strong commercial avenue for us now. If this keeps growing, we’ll create that cushion for us to start development programmes and build infrastructure, which requires a lot of financial stability.”
Nepal has also introduced player contracts for both men and women, brought red-ball cricket into its development structure and continued expanding cricket infrastructure. Together, those measures form part of the effort to create a stronger base beneath the national teams.
Commercial progress and public enthusiasm, however, cannot substitute for results. Khadka stated: “You could have everything around you, but if you don’t play good cricket, people don’t follow you.”
Nepal provided further evidence of its competitiveness in T20 cricket at the 2026 World Cup, where it came close to producing upsets against England and South Africa. Sustaining that progress will require more regular opportunities against higher-level international opposition.
Nepal targets more cricket against leading nations
Greater exposure is now part of the Cricket Association of Nepal’s next phase. The board is seeking bilateral fixtures against Test-playing countries as it looks to give Nepal’s players more experience against established international teams.
Khadka explained: “You only become a better cricketer when you play against better cricketers, and you become a better team when you play against better teams.”
Discussions over those opportunities are already taking place. Khadka added: “We are in conversations, and hopefully this gets materialised very soon.”
The push for stronger bilateral opposition sits alongside Nepal’s investment in contracts, domestic structures and facilities. Together with the NPL’s growing commercial role, those initiatives are intended to provide the conditions for international performances to become more consistent.
Afghanistan offers Nepal a blueprint
Afghanistan provides an obvious reference point for Nepal’s ambitions. After emerging from Associate cricket and making rapid progress in the shorter formats, Afghanistan was awarded Test status in 2017.
Nepal’s circumstances and pathway are its own, but the comparison now comes from both the ICC’s leadership and Nepal’s cricket administration. For Khadka, Afghanistan’s progression offers a model from which his country can learn.
Khadka noted: “There’s a blueprint for sure. We definitely would like to follow the same journey.”
Nepal’s next stage will therefore depend on converting several existing strengths — its emerging player pool, large supporter base, growing domestic league and increased investment — into sustained international performance. With bilateral discussions underway and the country set to co-host the next Under-19 Women’s World Cup, its attempt to move closer to cricket’s established nations is entering another phase.
