Lately, cricketer Puja Mahato has been earning notable popularity. The U19 women’s cricket team recently won against UAE, under the captainship of Puja Mahato, and won World Cup Asia Qualifiers.
As champions, Nepal will compete in the U20 Women’s T20 World Cup in January-February and the Women’s Asia Cup in December, both in Malaysia.
Puja’s popularity
Puja Mahato’s name stands out in this achievement. Under her leadership, Nepal’s women’s cricket team has qualified for the World Cup for the first time. “I feel proud and happy to make history with Nepal’s women’s cricket team and to serve as the team captain,” says Mahato to Onlinekhabar.
Nepal’s U19 women’s cricket team qualified for the World Cup on the second attempt. Although the Nepali women’s team started playing cricket in 2007, they had never come close to the World Cup. In the last match of the round-robin, Nepal needed to win against Kuwait by a larger margin. In that match, Mahato scored a century and took five wickets.
“After winning the match against Kuwait we had confidence that we will win against UAE as well,” she says.
Being a captain
Mahato, hailing from Mahottari, made her debut for Nepal’s senior cricket team directly. Well-versed in both batting and bowling, she joined the senior team in 2023. After playing for the senior team, she played for the U19 team, where she was appointed captain for the World Cup qualifiers. She was appointed the captain because she had experience playing with the senior team.
“Soni Pakhrin and I had already played for the senior team. I was the most senior player in the U19 team. I had already played 20 matches in the senior team,” says Mahato. Experience holds great importance in cricket, she adds.
During the qualifiers, Puja Mahato delivered an exceptional performance, scoring 130 runs off 69 balls. Nepal scored a total of 213 runs in the match. Mahato also took five wickets, helping to bowl Kuwait out for just 48 runs. Nepal won the match by a commanding margin of 165 runs.
“To hit a hundred runs and take five wickets in the same match is unbelievable,” says Mahato. Her performance set a historic record as the first by a Nepali cricketer in any age group or format in international cricket. For the last 15 years, the senior women’s cricket team have been trying to qualify for the World Cup but they haven’t been able to do so. However, the U19 team made it happen on the second attempt. The U19 team proved that even Nepal’s women’s cricket team can qualify for the World Cup. In the group stage of the World Cup Nepal will compete against Australia, Bangladesh and Scotland.
“We are excited to play with the big teams,” says Mahato.
Mahato believes that the U19 team’s qualification for the World Cup will create positive pressure on the senior team to strive for World Cup qualification as well.
From Delhi to World Cup
Born in Kathmandu, Mahato learned cricket in Delhi, India. From learning cricket in Delhi to being the captain of the U19 team and qualifying for the World Cup, her story is filled with numerous ups and downs. “My father has worked hard to achieve all these things,” says Mahato, “I am grateful for my family’s support.”
To overcome the financial burden and for the better future of the family, Mahato’s father Ranjit Mahato went to Delhi for a job opportunity. Later Mahato and his brother Krishna also went to Delhi from Kathmandu.
“My brother had joined a cricket academy. One day the coach told my father that your daughter also has the potential to become a cricketer,” Mahato recalls. “My father agreed to the coach.” The academy provided a full scholarship for Puja Mahato.
Afterwards, the rest is history.
