Karan KC a true motivator and fighter

Given his burly frame,at first glance anyone can mistake him for  a professional pugilist.

His broad shoulders and muscular chest perfectly suits him to the  profile of a boxer.

No wonder he  has earned  the nickname of  Hulk.Interestingly,he has another romantic nickname Valentine Boy as well.

If you're familiar with the nicknames,you should  know who  the sporting personality I am referring to by now.

He is a professional cricketer but not a boxer. I am talking about none other than thirty four year old cricketer Karan KC who  has become a household name in Nepal.

KC is a right- arm -fast medium bowler with searing pace and swing. His reliability, consistency and firepower have made him a key player in the bowling attack for the team.

Besides,his batting  has improved significantly over the years,elevating him to the all rounder status.

Born into a humble family in Sigana V.D.C a small village in Baglung,West Nepal, KC  developed intense passion for cricket at a tender age.

Just like  any young aspiring athlete he carried  lofty dreams of becoming a professional cricketer and representing the country in international competitions.

At the time the village where he was born lacked a strong cricket  culture, resources, infrastructure and facilities.Considering the cricketing scenario,it was very  challenging for him to fulfill his cherished dream 

However, at the age of one his life took a turn  when he  moved with his family to  Chandigarh, Punjab where he grew up from a toddler to a teenager. 

Being raised in a cricket crazy country,KC quickly developed fondness for the sport. And in  no time his fondness converted into passion,pushing him hard to pursue a career in cricket .

At home he self trained with a tennis ball around the clock much to the  chagrin of his parents.They didn't approve of his deep involvement in the game. 

They  tried everything to discourage and keep him away from the sport but  to  no avail. As a last resort, they sent him back to his birth place in Nepal.

The diversion tactic employed by his parents totally failed to  dissuade and disassociate KC from cricket.

Instead he  remained  undeterred, further committed and  one hundred percent focused  on his bowling.He kept working tirelessly on his bowling to accelerate  the pace, day and night.Eventually his hard work paid off by clocking a highly impressive 134 km per hour.

His return to Nepal was a blessing in disguise.The cricketing environment  in the village was in a much healthier state.

 

He quickly brought himself into action,playing in local tournaments.It did not take long for talent scouts to spot him. 

Impressed by his cricketing skills Panchakanya Tej signed him to their roster. Playing in the 2014 Nepal Premier league he put on an impactful performance by picking up 10 wickets from  seven matches.

The same year the national selectors looking to consolidate the team’s bowling attack saw in KC a highly promising bowler with tremendous potential.

Unhesitatingly, they picked him for the 18-man preliminary squad for the 2014 ICC World Cricket League division 3.

However, he did not  make it to the final squad. He and another  emerging player Arif Sheikh were sent to the Bangalore based Just  Cricket Academy for a ten day training camp.

The same year he was selected for the  Sri Lankan tour and he featured in two matches against a selected home side.

 

In his List A  debut in the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division  two against  Uganda in Namibia KC made an  immediate impression,finishing the competition with nine wickets in six matches, including five wickets against Canada. More importantly, he became the best ever Nepali bowler statistically in this format  of the game.

In 2015 KC made his Twenty20 debut against the Netherlands. It was in this competition  he displayed his full potential which put him under the spotlight.

Needing a victory against Canada to qualify for the 2018  Cricket World Cup Qualifiers,he played a winning knock of  unbeaten 42 to ensure Nepal’s passage to the next round.He shared a crucial partnership with ace spinner Sandeep Lamichhane  for the last wicket and the winning run came in the last ball of the over.His  superb batting performance earned him the  man of the match award.

In 2018 he reached another personal milestone when he was selected for Nepal’s  first ever One Day International (ODI) series against the Netherlands. He went on to make his ODI against the Netherlands.

His next  debut was the  first-class   against the Marylebone Cricket Club during their tour of Nepal in 2019.

Since then he has been an integral part of the team and represented the country in every international tournament to date.  He is the only Nepali  pace bowler with the highest number of five-wicket hauls in both T20 and List A cricket.  

Speaking of his bowling and batting statistics across various formats of the game  to this day,he has played in 61 ODIs,81 T20Is,86 Listed A,89 T20s  and 1First Class.

He has claimed 86 wickets and scored 565 runs in ODI. Likewise, in T20Is he has 103 wickets in his kitty and amassed 468 runs. He is the only second Nepali bowler to reach  the century mark in wicket taking. 

His Listed A  stats stands out with 116 wickets and  710 runs, while in his sole First  Class outing he took 6 wickets and scored 20 runs. In T20s he has to his credit  208 wickets and  500 runs.

Besides,he has made a name for himself  for big- hitting batting lower down the order on numerous occasions.

On the domestic front, he has  played for different teams-Pokhara,Panchakanya Tej Tej, Pentagon,Biratnagar Warriors and currently represents  Kathmandu Gurkhas. Additionally, he played for Pune  Devils in the Abu Dhabi T10 league in the United Arab Emirates.

He is still going strong after all these years and  continues to be one of the most reliable players the team can bank on.We are bound to see more of him on the field going forward.

He is a motivator and an inspiration to upcoming  young aspiring cricketers in the country. His commitment, resiliency,hard work, positivity, discipline  and dedication makes him a perfect role model. 

He was rightly appointed as the brand ambassador for Informatics Consultancy Pvt, Ltd.