New Delhi: For a country that is still reeling from violent protests that claimed over 50 lives and destroyed thousands of homes, a win in a cricket match is a small-magnitude event in the face of things. But the Nepal cricket team’s T20I series triumph over the two-time world champions, West Indies, is not an ordinary win.
It is a result capable of uniting a country that was ruined by decades of systematic corruption and a breakdown in trust between the youth and the government, which culminated in the deadly protests by Gen-Z, triggered by the government’s ban on social media.
Nepal’s historic T20I triumph: Uniting a nation post-protests
Weeks after the disaster, Nepal’s cricket team gave the people back home a reason to smile. Those who were clashing on the field during the unrest shared a common feeling of happiness on Monday after watching their cricket team script history in Sharjah.
📒 Pages of #NepalCricket rewritten.#Rhinos claim a historic 2-0 series win vs West Indies!#NepalCricket pic.twitter.com/t87Zv3tpse
— CAN (@CricketNep) September 29, 2025
Nepal’s steady rise in cricket faced a major roadblock with their failure to qualify for the 2025 Asia Cup, which features three Associate Nations. But it was their absence from the continental tournament that made the meeting with the West Indies possible.
If the disappointment of not qualifying for the Asia Cup was painful, the happiness and joy of defeating a Test-playing nation is comforting.
The minnow nation punched above its weight on Tuesday and won a bilateral series against a Test nation for the first time.
From associate to giant slayer: Nepal cricket’s rise
Following a 19-run victory in the opening match of the series on Saturday, Nepal showed why they belong at the big stage with a dominating 90-run win in the second match to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-game series.
After showing glimpses of their potential in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where they came close to defeating South Africa in a last-over thriller, Nepal displayed their full might against a team known for its T20 prowess. Full of T20 specialists, the West Indies team was second-best against a spirited Nepalese side, which recorded the largest-ever win by an Associate team over a Full Member side.
For the West Indies, it was another dark day in their cricketing history. After failing to qualify for the 50-over World Cup in 2023 and being bowled out for just 27 – the second-lowest score in Test history – in July against Australia, West Indies cricket sank to a new low with a series loss in their most favourite format against an associate nation, which rarely gets exposure to playing cricket against quality opponents.
The historic win will give Nepal a lot of confidence ahead of next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia-Pacific Regional Final, where they will battle with two other sides attempting to qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.