Kathmandu: The Nepal Men’s National Cricket Team’s recent European tour has triggered major shifts in the ICC rankings, with several players making notable gains—particularly spinners Lalit Rajbanshi and Sandeep Lamichhane.
Among all-rounders in T20 Internationals, Dipendra Singh Airee continues to lead the Nepali contingent, holding third position globally. He trails only India’s Hardik Pandya and Australia’s Marcus Stoinis by a narrow margin.
Kushal Bhurtel saw a six-place jump in the same category, reaching 32nd. However, Gulsan Jha dropped to 61st, while Rohit Paudel and Kushal Malla fell to 66th and 68th respectively. Karan KC slipped slightly to 81st.
In the ODI all-rounder rankings, Airee dropped to 54th, while Sompal Kami and Lamichhane remained unchanged at 56th and 59th. Rajbanshi gained three spots to move up to 82nd. Meanwhile, Karan KC and Kushal Malla saw declines, and Aarif Sheikh entered the top 100 at 99th.
For ODI batting, Bhurtel advanced to 87th, and Aarif Sheikh made a remarkable leap of 13 places to 90th. Aasif Sheikh and Rohit Paudel slipped slightly to 94th and 99th, respectively.
In T20I batting, Airee remained 61st. Bhurtel moved up 10 spots to 83rd, while Rohit and Asif each fell two places, ranking 66th and 78th.
Nepal’s biggest improvements came in the bowling department. Rajbanshi now holds Nepal’s highest rank in both ODI and T20I bowling. He climbed five spots to 48th in ODIs and surged 29 places to 54th in T20Is. Lamichhane also jumped significantly in the T20I bowling chart, climbing 41 places to reach 75th.
However, some bowlers faced setbacks. Airee dropped three spots to 79th in ODI bowling, Karan KC fell to 84th, while Kami held steady at 94th. In T20Is, Airee dropped to 81st.
As a team, Nepal currently ranks 17th in ODIs and 18th in T20Is. The European tour included four ODIs and four T20Is played as part of a tri-series against Scotland and the Netherlands, offering a competitive platform that evidently influenced individual performances on the global stage.