Shakti Gauchan

Shakti Gauchan is the only Nepali cricketer to take an international hat-trick. He first represented Nepal in the ACC Under-17 Asia Cup in 2001. He played in the 2002 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand the following year, also making his senior side debut in the same year in the ACC Trophy.

Gauchan played for the Under-19 side for the next two years playing in a tour to India and the Youth Asia Cup in Pakistan in 2003 as well as the 2004 Under-19 World Cup. He returned back in the senior squad in March 2004. He played in all prominent competitions already formed a major part of the team. In the 2012 World Cricket League Division Four, he set up Nepal’s convincing victory over Malaysia, with a new record. He registered figures of 10-8-2-3, which is the best economical bowling spell ever in limited over internationals.

After the 2012 World T20 Qualifiers, he was called up by the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals. He impressed everyone in the nets by taking the wicket of Rahul Dravid. The IPL team later tweeted about Shakti saying,'For now, Shakti Gauchan will be training and gaining valuable experience at the nets.'

Gauchan continued to impress at the international level as well. Playing his debut T20I game in the 2014 World T20, he earned the Man of the Match for his remarkable figures of 4-0-9-3 against Hong Kong.

By Sonali Dhulap

As of May 2014