Nepal cricketer Kushal Bhurtel makes history, no international player has THIS record

Kushal Bhurtel, who recently made his T20I debut for Nepal, has created history as he became the only cricketer to score three half-centuries in the first three games of his international career. Kushal is now running to be named the ICC's Men's Player of the Month for April, alongside some big names such as Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and opener Fakhar Zaman. Kushal, while playing in a five-match T20I tri-series against the Netherlands and Malaysia, scored a whopping 278 runs at an average of 69.8. Kushal scored four half-centuries in the series, including a 62, an unbeaten 61, another 62, 14, and a match-winning 77. 

Who is Kushal Bhurtel?

Kushal first came into the limelight in 2016 when he made an appearance for Nepal in the ICC U-19 World Cup. He temporarily vanished from the scene only to make his List-A debut for Nepal in the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Sides Cup. Kushal failed to gain recognition as he did not give any outstanding performance during the course of the tournament. 

However, the 24-year-old opener got another chance to display his skills on the international stage as he was summoned by the national selectors in place of regular opener Paras Khadka, who was injured and ruled out of the series against the Netherlands. Kushal grabbed the opportunity with both hands and gave an extraordinary performance to become one of the nominees in the ICC Men's Player of the Month award. 

Kushal is the first Nepalese to make it to the ICC Men's Player of the Month nominees chart, as no other cricketer from his country has ever featured on the list since it came into being earlier this year. So far, ICC has given three awards in the category, all of which have gone to Indian cricketers - Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. 

On the back of Kushal's consistent batting performances, Nepal claimed their first home series victory in more than 10 years. While Kushal finished the series as the leading run-scorer, with 100 more runs than the second-best on the list, Sandeep Lamichanne scalped most wickets to help the Himalayan nation win the tri-series. 

(Image Credit: ICC/Website)