Anyone who had the opportunity to watch the football playing life of Bharat Khawas closely, it is surprising to everyone, how soon he reached the day of retirement. The first international friendly match between Nepal and Bangladesh took place on Saturday. Now the second match will be played on Tuesday and from there Bharat will officially retire.

If we look carefully at Bharat's career, he seems lucky in many ways. A good example of that is this sannyas. It is said that a player can start his playing life doing whatever he wants, but he cannot end it . Even if it is not as big a star player . If we talk about Nepali football, even if you are a great player, it is not customary to retire. Just like that, he stopped playing and the player himself kept losing .

In that sense, Bharat will be lucky indeed, as he officially bids farewell to the home crowd at Dashrath Stadium. He is one of the best players Nepali football has ever had. Whatever achievements a Nepalese player can achieve, all of them are more than what Bharat got. With the 'whistle' of the second match between Nepal and Bangladesh, a period associated with India will come to an end.

These are the 10 important facts associated with him.

1. Debut

in Pokhara In 2008, Pakistan team came to Nepal to play two international friendly matches. Both matches were held at Pokhara Stadium. In the very first match, Bharat got the opportunity to make his debut. The day was, March 25 . At that time, many things were not well organized in Pokhara Stadium. Therefore, there was a reporter's hole right behind where the fourth official was sitting. In the 75th minute of the game, he entered the field instead of Pradeep Maharjan. At that time, he looked at the journalist and gave a sweet smile. Maybe he was a bit scared.

2. Goal

in 'debut' that day, Bharat was not the only one who made his 'debut', Chun Bahadur Thapa, Sandeep Rai, Viraj Maharjan and Neerajan Khadka also made their 'debut'. The coach's name was formally written as Bhim Thapa. But all the work was done by Balgopal Maharjan and Upendraman Singh. In that sense, it is good for Bharat to credit them with the 'debut'. Within two minutes of entering the field, Bharat also scored a goal. In this way, he remained in the list of successful players to score in 'debut'. Nepal won it 2-1. Another goal for Nepal was scored by Anil Gurung. That was Anil's first goal as well.  

3. Most goals in Dasharath stadium

is the most important fact to connect with Bharat, he is the player who scored most goals in Dasharath stadium for Nepal . Bharat himself is also proud of this fact. He has scored a total of seven goals at Dasharath Stadium. The first goal was against Afghanistan on April 7, 2011. Nepal won 1-0 in that AFC Challenge Cup qualifying match. In that sense, Bharat's goal proved decisive. That was Bharat's fifth match for Nepal.

4. A rare hat-trick

A hat-trick is a rare achievement in itself, in football. Very few have scored three goals for Nepal. Bharat also falls in that . On March 2, 2013, he scored a historic hat-trick against Northern Maria Island. In that match, Nepal easily won 7-0. Bharat's scoring times were, 4, 40 and 70 . He is also the first player to score a hat-trick for Nepal at Dasharath Stadium. Then Anjan Bista also did the same thing . Otherwise the hat-trick of Ganesh Thapa, Naresh Joshi, Neerajan Rayamazhi and Navayug Shrestha was possible in foreign land.

5. The most famous goal

Although Nepal has scored many goals in international football, only some special goals are remembered till later. One of them is in the name of Bharat. Moreover, it is more than a possible goal against the strongest opponent from Nepal . There was an opportunity, World Cup qualification. On the 28th day of July 2011 . And there was the rival, Jordan . After conceding nine goals in the first leg against Jordan, Nepal held the same team to a 1-1 draw in the second leg. After Jordan took a one-goal lead, India equalized.

6. Captain's responsibility

Being a captain in football means something different. Should be the captain of the national team, really something different. Bharat was also lucky in that sense because he also got the opportunity to lead the Nepali national team. The first time India got to wear the 'arm band' was in the 2017 Asia Cup Qualifiers. In the match against the Philippines in Manila, Bharat became the captain of the national team for the first time in his playing career. He was given this opportunity by coach Gyotuku Koji. Bharat captained a total of four matches .

7. The 63rd 'cap'

in retirement was the last time Bharat played for Nepal on November 13 last year. In the international friendly match against Tajikistan in Dushanbe, coach Naveen Neupane played him from the start. That was the 62nd cap he won for Nepal. This will be his last match, the 63rd . This is how he spent 17 years. If injuries and health had not bothered him, he would have played more for Nepal. Bharat won his 50th cap in the 2018 SAFF Championship match against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Coincidentally, he was also the captain in that match.

8. Double digits reached by goal

For Nepal, the number of goals by touching double digits is also very low. Therefore, those who have scored 10 or more goals are considered 'legends'. Bharat also falls in this . Bharat has scored exactly 10 goals for Nepal. His last goal was also possible in the same Dhaka SAFF Championship, on September 6 . That goal was against Bhutan. At the same time, he now said that his goal is to touch the number of record 13 goals . But they couldn't. The injury did not give him a chance to reach there .

9. Anfa Academy product

is a player of the second batch of Anfa Academy, he . Bharat spent eight years at ANFA Academy. At first he was in Pokhara, then he came to Kathmandu. His closest friend at the academy was former captain Viraj Maharjan. Not all the players produced by the ANFA Academy are equally good . Some of them didn't even play football, they got lost in some places. But Bharat will surely be in the list of the best players among the products of ANFA Academy . He remained in Nepali football.