Rohit Paudel

A solid top-order batter and leader, Rohit Paudel has been the face of Nepal cricket at a time of unprecedented success in the post-Covid era. Paudel was just shy of 16 when he made his ODI debut, and in his third game became the then youngest batter to record an ODI fifty. He was also just 20 years and 73 days of age when he was named captain of the ODI side, the second youngest in the history of the format.

Paudel's appointment came at a tumultuous time, when then captain and star player Sandeep Lamichhane was accused of rape and suspended by the board. Nepal were also languishing near the bottom of the World Cup Super League 2 points table. But under Paudel's captaincy Nepal won 11 of 12 ODIs that saw them secure a berth at the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in June 2023. Soon after, he was also handed over the reins of the T20I side, and led Nepal to their first T20 World Cup qualification since 2014.

Paudel has mainly taken on an anchoring role in the batting order and his consistency meant he was the first batter from the country to surpass 1000 runs in ODIs, and remains one of Nepal's top run-scorers across formats.