Kathmandu: Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Aire, a 24-year-old policeman nicknamed ‘tiger’, hopes to use his record-setting skills to promote his nation in the T20 World Cup.
Nepal’s 273 against Mongolia in September last year was the biggest margin in any T20 but Airey’s impressive performance in the win was the fastest T20 fifty in just nine balls.
The rising star smashed six wickets in each of the first six balls he faced before breaking his previous record of 12 wickets in a half.
Then in April against Qatar, he became the third man to hit six sixes in T20 internationals.
However, he has proven himself to be an exciting player, pulling off sensational catches and brilliant runs – and is expected to have a performance that will make the Himalayan nation tick.
“I will do my best to play a role for the winning team,” he told Nepal’s Kantipur Television earlier this month.
“I’m encouraged by everyone’s support,” she said.
It made me want to give 110 percent as much as possible.
At the 20-nation World Cup, Nepal was ranked 17th in the ICC rankings, but Nepal’s chief selector Dipendra Chaudhary said Airey could change everything.
“Outside bowling is the best,” Chaudhary told AFP. “His fitness, work ethic and team spirit are amazing.”
“Looking back, I believe he will be considered as one of the best players in the history of Nepal,” said Chaudhary.
“He is very talented and a hard worker. He started his career as a middle-order bowler before switching to batting and is now an all-rounder.”
Airee remembers how excited she was to go to the World Cup, watching Nepal match after match on the giant screen projected from the bazaar.
“When we were together, I cried,” she said to Kantipura.
A quiet and media-shy Aire, he played for the first time in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup.
“He was raw but incredibly talented: the system saw him at a young age,” Chaudhary said, adding that the policeman had a “shameful attitude”.
The T20 World Cup, hosted by the United States and the West Indies, begins on Saturday with Nepal playing its first match in Dallas on June 4.
Nepal’s preparations have been overshadowed by its desire to include controversial star Sandeep Lamichha in the squad after the former violinist and spinner was denied a US visa.
Lamichhane, 23, was once the poster boy of cricket in Nepal but was not included in the original team because he was convicted of raping a young woman in a Kathmandu hotel in 2022.
An eight-year prison sentence for rape was overturned this month.
