Karan K.C. (, born 10 October 1991) is a Nepalese professional cricketer. He was one of the eleven cricketers to play in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

's first ever

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) match, against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in August 2018. Karan is a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He made his debut against

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

in January 2015. Karan KC became the second cricketer of Nepal to take his 100th wicket in T20Is. He was the Nepali first player to claim five wickets in a T20I for Nepal against PNG. Karan guided

to a one-wicket victory against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the final match of the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two in

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, Namibia, on 14 February 2018. The victory ensured

a berth for the

2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that took place during March 2018 in Zimbabwe. It formed the final part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The top two t ...

to be held in March in Zimbabwe. He represents Region No. 8 Pokhara in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, Panchakanya Tej of the

Everest Premier League Everest Premier League (EPL) () was a franchise Twenty20 cricket tournament organized by EPL Pvt. Ltd., a private group in Nepal. It was the biggest cricket tournament in the country, played during the northern winter calendar, mostly in the ...

, and Pentagon International College in the SPA Cup. He represented Panchakanya Tej in the Everest Premier League, 2016.

Playing career

Karan was born in

Baglung Baglung is a Municipalities of Nepal, municipality in Gandaki Province, in western Nepal, west of Kathmandu. It is the administrative headquarters of Baglung District. Baglung serves as the major center for business, finance, education, servic ...

and brought up in

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He represented Panchakanya Tej in the 2014 Nepal Premier League, where he picked up 10 wickets in 7 matches, at an average of 13.40. He was selected in the 18-man preliminary squad for the

2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Three The 2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Three was a cricket divisional tournament organised by International Cricket Council. It formed part of the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) and qualification for the 2019 World Cup. The top two teams in ...

but did not make it to the playing eleven. Subsequently, he and his teammate Aarif Sheikh were sent to

in September 2014 for a 10-day training camp at Just Cricket Academy in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. He was part of the team that toured

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in November 2014 where he played two, three-day matches against Sri Lanka Cricket Combined XI. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut in the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two in

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in January 2015. Playing his first tournament for Nepal, he picked up 9 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 15.88 and an economy rate of 3.31, including a five-wicket haul against

, which are the best bowling figures by a Nepalese bowler in the

format. He made his

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

debut against the Netherlands on 30 June 2015. Karan scored 42 runs not out in the must-win match against

, helping Nepal win the match off the last ball and qualify for the

. In July 2018, Karan was named in Nepal's squad for their

(ODI) series against the Netherlands. These were Nepal's first ODI matches since gaining ODI status during the

. He made his ODI debut for Nepal against the

on 1 August 2018. In August 2018, he was named in Nepal's squad for the

2018 Asia Cup Qualifier The 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was held in Malaysia from 29 August to 6 September 2018. The event served as the qualifier for the 2018 Asia Cup. The top two teams from the group stage met in the final, with the winner ...

tournament. In October of the same year, he was named in Nepal's squad for the Eastern sub-regional group in the 2018–19

ICC World Twenty20 The ICC Men's T20 World Cup, formerly the ICC World Twenty20, is a biennial world cup for cricket in Twenty20 International (T20I) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in every odd year from 2007 to 2009, ...

Asia Qualifier tournament. In June 2019, he was named in Nepal's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier tournament. In September 2019, he was named in both Nepal's squad for the

2019–20 Singapore Tri-Nation Series The 2019–20 Singapore Tri-Nation Series was a cricket tournament that was held from 27 September to 3 October 2019 in Singapore. It was a tri-nation series featuring Singapore, Nepal and Zimbabwe, with all the matches played as Twenty20 Interna ...

and 2019–20 Oman Pentangular Series. In the match against Netherlands in the Pentangular Series, he took 4 wickets for 17 runs, and played a match-winning knock of 31 not out. He made his first-class debut on 6 November 2019, for

against the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC), during the MCC's tour of Nepal. Later the same month, he was named in Nepal's squads for the

2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup The 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup was the fourth edition of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup held in Bangladesh between 14 and 23 November 2019. Eight teams participated in the tournament, including five under-23 age level teams of Test cricket ...

in Bangladesh, and for the cricket tournament at the

2019 South Asian Games The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was ...

. The Nepal team won the bronze medal, after they beat the Maldives by five wickets in the third-place playoff match. In September 2020, he was one of eighteen cricketers awarded a central contract by the

Cricket Association of Nepal Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) is the official Sport governing body, governing body of cricket in Nepal national cricket team, Nepal. Its headquarters are situated in Mulpani, Kathmandu, Mulpani, Kathmandu District, Kathmandu. It is Nepal' ...

. In May 2024, he was named in Nepal's squad for the

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...

tournament.

Franchise cricket

Nepal Premier League The Nepal Premier League, officially known as Siddhartha Bank NPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's Twenty20 cricket league held annually in Nepal. Founded by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) in 2024, the league features eight province ...

: KC leads the Kathmandu Gurkhas in the first edition of NPL. *

: In 2016, he represents Panchakanya Tej in the first edition of

. Later in

he represents Biratnagar Warriors.

Records and milestones

ODI * 6th most wickets in a series – 50 (ICC Men's cricket world cup League 2 2019–2023) T20I * 6th outstanding bowling analysis for 2 wicket-haul in an inning – 2/1 against Mongolia * 7th Best economy rate in an inning – 0.50 against Mongolia * 9th most 4+ wickets in an inning in career – 4 * Most consecutive 4+ wickets in an inning – 2 * 2nd Most wickets taken by

hit wicket Hit wicket is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is governed by Law 35 of the Laws of Cricket. The striker is out "hit wicket" if, after the bowler has entered his delivery stride and while the ball is in pla ...

– 1 * 2nd Most Maidens in an inning – 2 overs

References

External links

*
Karan KC's Facebook Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:KC, Karan 1991 births Living people People from Baglung District Sportspeople from Gandaki Province Nepalese cricketers Nepal One Day International cricketers Nepal Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Nepalese sportsmen Twenty20 International hat-trick takers South Asian Games bronze medalists for Nepal South Asian Games medalists in cricket Cricketers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games cricketers for Nepal