Nepal APF Club's Niruta Thagunna has been appointed as the captain of the Nepali national women's team. She is the sixth captain to lead the national team. 

The Nepal Volleyball Association's working committee meeting on Friday approved Niruta as the captain on the recommendation of head coach Jagdish Bhatta. Usha Bhandari and Salina Shrestha were also in the running among the senior players currently in the team. However, Niruta has been given the captaincy responsibility due to her age and international match experience.

Hema Pradhan is the first captain of Nepal's women's volleyball. After that, Sushma Thapa, Anju Shrestha, Binita Budhathoki and Aruna Shahi have led the Nepali women's volleyball team.

The national women's team was without a captain recently. After captain Aruna left for Australia, the team was without a leader. The women's team is preparing to play the Kava Women's Championship at home from 8-15 Jestha at the Rakhep Covered Hall in Tripureshwor. Niruta's captaincy debut will be in Kava.

Niruta, from Naugad, Darchula, started her volleyball journey with the President's Running Shield. She started playing volleyball in 2073. Earlier, she was an athletics player. She used to participate in athletics events in the Running Shield. On the advice of a mentor, she turned to volleyball in the Running Shield. Niruta remembers playing volleyball twice in the President's Running Shield. Since then, she has not been able to stay away from volleyball. Niruta has been playing for the national team for the past seven years.

Niruta used to play for the Sudurpaschim team. Her current coach, Jagdish Bhatta, who saw her talent, associated her with the Tribhuvan Army Club. After that, Niruta's club volleyball journey began. She spent about two years in the Army. After leaving the Army, she joined the APF. She is now the captain of the APF. Niruta has won dozens of tournaments for APF, including the Tiger Cup three times, the 9th National Games, the Dhorpatan Double League Championship, the Prime Minister's Cup, and the NVA Club Championship.

Niruta made her debut in the national team in the Asian Senior Women's Central Zone Volleyball Championship in 2019. The Nepali team became the champion in the competition against Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

She then played in the 13th South Asian Games. Niruta was a member of the team when Nepal won the historic silver medal at the SAG under the captaincy of Aruna. Niruta, who played in the 19th Asian Games in 2023, has the experience of finishing runner-up in the Kava Women's Volleyball League in 2024 and third in the Kava Women's Challenge in 2023.

Her team won the Kava Women's Club Championship in the Maldives last year. Niruta, who has been awarded the best player many times, is the marquee player of Madhesh United in the Everest Women's Franchise League.

Half a dozen new players have seen their chance in the upcoming Kava Championship. Most of the players who have achieved success in the past have gone abroad. Players like Saraswati Chaudhary, Pratibha Mali, Safiya Pun, Kavita Bhatta, Poonam Chand have reached Australia. Therefore, Niruta will have to manage a team that will be a mixture of some old and many new players.

After being appointed captain, Niruta said, 'It is a great opportunity for me to lead the national team. This is beyond my imagination. I am confident that I will be able to carry out this responsibility successfully.'