NPL 2024: Know your Chitwan Rhinos leader, Kushal Malla

Kushal Malla might be just 20, but he’s already one of the biggest stars on the current Nepal side. The left-handed hard-hitting batter has made a name for himself, smashing one record at a time, throwing no caution to the wind.

At 20, he’s the face of the Nepal Premier League franchise Chitwan Rhinos, but do you know that he’s already established many credentials at the international level? 

Made his debut at the age of 15

Rhinos’ captain Malla is a prodigy, having entered Nepal’s scheme of things at 15. 

The left-handed batter was named in Nepal’s squad for the 2019-20 Singapore Tri-nation series. Later, he was also included in the Oman Pentagular series before he finally debuted on September 27 against Zimbabwe. 

Youngest half-centurion in international cricket

A few months later, when he made his ODI debut, the left-hander established himself as one of the leading young talents in world cricket with a 50 off 51 against the United States of America. 

At just 15 years and 340 days, Malla became the youngest cricketer to score a half-century in ODIs. He broke his countryman and Nepal captain Rohit Paudel’s record. He was also the youngest half-centurion in international cricket’s history (to date).

Fastest centurion for Nepal across white-ball formats

Astonishingly, just a few years after his debut, Malla grew from strength to strength, smashing a 54-ball century against Oman in ODIs, which, to date, remains the quickest ODI century for the country. Yet again, he broke Paudel’s record (91 balls). 

In the Asian Games 2023, Malla went a step ahead when he smashed a 34-ball T20I century against Mongolia, the fastest T20I century before Rhinos’ teammate Nicol Loftie-Eaton broke his record. 

Not just that, it was also the most runs scored (137) in a T20I innings by a non-opener before Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan broke his record (144). 

A sizzling 2023 where Malla was involved in multiple new records

2023 is a year that Malla might remember in his career. It was a year when he launched into stardom, with a strike rate of 193.3. It was the highest strike rate in 2023 for any batter with a minimum of 300 runs. 

In 2023 alone, Malla scored 402 runs off just 208 balls, averaging a staggering 44.67, a year where he also scored his T20I best (137). That year, Malla was also involved in the highest third-wicket partnership, putting on 193 runs alongside Paudel, besting Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips’ partnership record of 184 runs. 

Keep an eye out for the Rhinos’ Malla, who might again break some records during the 2024 edition of the Nepal Premier League.

Cover Image Courtesy: Nepal Premier League

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