Gulshan Jha became the youngest player in the history of 53 years of ODI cricket History to set this record. According to ESPN Cricinfo Jha is just 18 year old cricketer playing for Nepal.
Nepal and Oman locked horns at Maple Leaf Cricket Ground on Wednesday, September 18, at the ICC CWC League-2 in Canada. Gulshan Jha clinched the Player of the Match award despite being on the losing side.
Oman won the toss and elected to bowl first at Maple Leaf Cricket Ground inviting Nepal to bat first.
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Nepal lost its previous match against Canada by 103 runs, while Oman will face Canada on 20 September at ICC CWC League 2 Match No. 30 at the Maple Leaf North-West Ground(A), King City, Ontario.
Nepal’s batting collapse in the previous match against Canada forced Nepal to make three big changes. Opening Batter Kushal Bhurtel, All-Rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, and Kushal Malla were replaced by Arjun Saud, Aarif Sheikh, and Anil Saah in the playing 11 against Oman.
On the other side Bilal Khan, a premium bowler from Oman is missing from the squad.
Despite making changes in the playing 11, Nepal’s struggle with the top order continues as Nepal lost their top order batters for just 31 runs in just 14 overs.
Skipper Rohit Paudel and Aarif Sheikh stabilized the inning for Nepal after the early dismissal of the top orders. Rohit and Aaarif made an 83-run partnership for the 4th wicket as Aaarif Sheikh got caught by Pratik Athavale and Shakeel Ahmad got his first wicket.
Gulshan Jha entered the crease at No.6 for Nepal when Nepal was at 114/4 after 36.3 overs and started adding runs to the boards quickly without wasting a penny of the time.
Rohit Paudel completed his half-century and Nepal was slowly back on track as they needed huge runs in the final 15 overs however Rohit got dismissed at 60 runs which increased trouble for the Nepali side.
Gulshan Jha commanded the run chase and added crucial runs for the team adding blasting fifty runs when Nepal needed most from him.
However, Jha couldn’t finish the inning on a high note as he got caught by Ayan Khan as a second wicket of Fayyaz Butt. Sompal Kami’s fiery 20 runs in the final few overs added a boost to Nepal’s total as they set 220 on the boards for Oman.
Oman in the runchase had a dream start against Nepal as both the openers opened the runchase well and Nepal struggled to break the opening partnership however, Sandeep Lamichhane finally gave a breakthrough for Nepal dismissing Jatinder Singh at 41 runs with an LBW after 75 runs partnerships.
After the first wicket at 75, Oman kept on losing their wickets at regular intervals. Gulshan Jha was introduced into the bowling attack by the skipper Paudel which was proven boon for the Nepali side.
He dismissed the skipper Aqib Illyas for 29 runs as Karan KC took a mighty catch to send the skipper back into the pavilion in the 25th over. Jha then dismissed Aayan Khan in the 29th over of the inning which made a great comeback for the Nepali side.
He was brought back at the 42nd over where he dismissed Shoaib Khan and Fayyaz Butt in the 44th over which seems to be the turning point of the game. Jha completed his five-wicket haul in the second inning dismissing Jay Odedara as Karan KC took another catch.
Gulshan Jha made the world record in cricket for being the youngest ever International Cricketer at just age 18 years and 215 days to complete a 5-wicket haul and a half-century in the same match.
Despite the five-wicket haul of Gulshan Jha, Nepal couldn’t defend 8 runs in the final overs and lost the match by 1 wicket also descended to No.7 in the points table with just 1 win in 6 matches while Oman stepped up to the no. 6 in the ranking table.
Nepal will play against Canada on 22 September and Oman on 24 September which are the remaining fixtures of Nepal in the ODI.
One-off T20 cricket tournament will also be played between Oman, Canada and Nepal. What’s your opinion on Gulshan jha hilarious records at just age of 18. Comment below…
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