Kushal Bhurtel's unbeaten 120 has kept Nepal in the running to retain its One Day International status by defeating the United States by nine wickets.
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It had been three matches since Kushal Bhurtel was not in Nepal's playing eleven. While Nepal was playing very important matches in the Cricket World Cup League 2 series, he was busy wearing yellow bibs and delivering water and helmets to his 'teammates' as a substitute player.
Suddenly, he returned to Nepal's playing eleven when they played against the United States on Saturday. He did not let that opportunity go to waste and played the best innings of his playing career. With his unbeaten 120 runs, Nepal defeated the United States by 9 wickets and revived its chances of retaining its One-Day International status.
It has not been even a month since Kushal scored a match-winning unbeaten 84 runs in the Twenty20 series against the UAE. Eight days after that match, he lost his place in Nepal's playing eleven. In the League 2 series between then, he could only score 24 runs against UAE and 1 run against Oman. Due to which, there was a lot of turmoil in the team. Kushal was also one of those who lost his place.
But Kushal gave a strong response with the bat on the given opportunity. This is the second highest score in ODIs by a Nepali player. Rohit Poudel had scored 126 runs in the series against Papua New Guinea in Kirtipur in 2022.
Kushal Bhurtel was unable to describe this success against America in words. 'There is no feeling of scoring a century, how can I describe it now. I was happy.' The top order batting was not giving a good start, so Asif (Sheikh) and I were happy to give a good start, that feeling was more than a century,' Kushal said, 'A century is good for a player. I missed this opportunity against Zimbabwe. Today I got the opportunity to complete a century, so I thank God.'
Kushal completed his second century in 104 balls. Then he folded both hands and looked towards the sky. Kushal was bowled for 99 against Zimbabwe in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers. Kushal and Asif Sheikh had put on 171 runs for the first wicket in that match. On Saturday, Kushal and Asif laid the foundation for victory by putting on 145 runs for the first wicket against the United States. This is Nepal's fourth highest partnership in ODIs. Kushal and Asif have also put on a century partnership for the fourth time for the first wicket.
‘Asif and I sit in the same room, we talk about how to give a good start . We thought that if we give a good start, Nepal will win the match . We were planning the same on the pitch, and I am happy that it worked out today,’ said Kushal, ‘It was good to see the wicket, America scored a little less runs accordingly . I thought that we would score 260 to 280 runs, but it was easy for us to stop under 200 runs . I was playing with a purpose today, that I would play the ball that came in my range . Asif also had the same, he plays a little slowly .’
Kushal, who had been ‘dropped’ from the playing set in previous matches, was finding it difficult to believe . ‘A wrong decision was made by me in the match against Oman, whereas I had played well in the Twenty20 . Then in the first match against UAE, I played well, I had a good start . But against Oman, when I played that Devrehath spinner wrongly, I was out of three games,' he lamented, 'I was doing well in batting. Whether it was playing in the nets or playing individually, I believed that I could do well if I played for a while. I showed that belief.'
He admits that it is not easy for anyone to get into the Nepal team and play. He takes it positively. He further said, 'It is very difficult to select players now. The coach and captain are finding it difficult to pick a playing 11, it is good to have that kind of competition. It increases healthy competition in the team. Nepal 'A' is also doing well by winning 4 games. If someone comes to the team, you think that you should also do well.'
American coach Pubudu Dassanayake was also very impressed by Kushal's innings. After the match, he spoke about Kushal's talent, 'I knew he had not been in the playing 11 for a few games, but he is a very talented player. He is an outstanding player in the Nepali team. It is difficult to perform consistently in every match, but when he scores runs, he is a match winner. Today he showed that.'
Kushal's only century in Twenty20 Internationals was when Pubudu was Nepal's coach. In February 2022, he scored an unbeaten 104 against the Philippines in the ICC World Cup qualifiers in Muscat, Oman.
Kushal has also been added to the list of players from Nepal to score two centuries in ODIs. Earlier, Rohit Poudel and Dipendra Singh Airi had scored two centuries in ODIs for Nepal. Coincidentally, Kushal, Rohit and Dipendra have also scored 1 century each in Twenty20 Internationals.
