Bhutan national cricket team
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| Nickname(s) | The Dragons | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Bhutan Cricket Council Board | |||||||||
| Personnel | ||||||||||
| Captain | Thinley Jamtsho | |||||||||
| Coach | Trishane Nonis | |||||||||
| International Cricket Council | ||||||||||
| ICC status | Associate member[1] (2017) | |||||||||
| ICC region | Asia | |||||||||
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| International cricket | ||||||||||
| First international | v. Maldives  (Kirtipur, Nepal; 6 March 2003) | |||||||||
| Twenty20 Internationals | ||||||||||
| First T20I | v  Nepal at Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur; 5 December 2019 | |||||||||
| Last T20I | v Maldives at Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok; 16 February 2024 | |||||||||
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| As of 16 February 2024 | ||||||||||
The Bhutan men's national cricket team, nicknamed The Dragons, represents the Kingdom of Bhutan in international cricket. The team is organised by the Bhutan Cricket Council Board, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001[5] and an associate member in 2017.[1] Bhutan made its international debut in 2003, at the Emerging Nations Tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). The team has since regularly participated in ACC tournaments, and also in the World Cricket League event WCL Division Eight in 2010 and 2012.[6]
The Dechephu Lhakhang (temple) in Thimphu is the spiritual home of Bhutan Cricket and players visit before every tournament. “We do not pray for victory”, said national captain Damber Singh Gurung, “we pray for each other to give our best and to emerge complete from the competition.”[7]
History
Bhutan Cricket Council Board became an affiliate member of the ICC in 2001. They played their first internationals in 2003 in a tri-nation series against Maldives and Nepal, hosted by the latter.[8] They made their ACC Trophy debut at the 2004 tournament, where they made the quarter-finals. Their first international victory came against Iran.
They again competed at the ACC Trophy in 2006 but were eliminated in the first round after a series of heavy defeats. Their only win came against newcomers Myanmar.
Following the 2006 ACC Trophy, the tournament was split into two divisions: Elite and Challenge. Bhutan took part in the 2009 ACC Trophy Challenge, where they were runners up. This result qualified them for the next ACC Trophy Elite as well as Division Eight of the World Cricket League.
2018-Present
In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Bhutan and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 have had the T20I status.[9]
Bhutan played their first T20I on 5 December 2019, against Nepal, during the 2019 South Asian Games. Nepal won that match by 141 runs.
v
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Gyanendra Malla 107 (55)
Karma Dorji 2/45 (4 overs) |
- Bhutan won the toss and elected to field.
- First ever T20I match for Bhutan.
Tournament history
ACC Challenger Cup
ACC Eastern Region T20
World Cricket League
- 2010 Division Eight: 7th place – relegated
- 2012 Division Eight: 8th place – relegated
ACC Trophy
- 2004: Quarter finals
- 2006: 13th place
- 2010 Elite: 8th place
ACC Trophy Challenge
- 2009: 2nd place
ACC Twenty20 Cup
| ACC Twenty20 Cup record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year/Host | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR |
| 2011 |
Group stages | 9/10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
 2020 |
Did not participate | ||||||
| Total | 1/2 | 0 Titles | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
- 2011: 9th place
Records and statistics
International Match Summary — Bhutan[11]
Last updated 16 February 2024
| Playing Record | ||||||
| Format | M | W | L | T | NR | Inaugural Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twenty20 Internationals | 21 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 5 December 2019 |
Twenty20 International
- Highest team total: 164/6 v. Cambodia on 5 February 2024 at Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok.[12]
- Highest individual score: 66*, Thinley Jamtsho v. Cambodia on 5 February 2024 at Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok.[13]
- Best individual bowling figures: 4/13, Ngawang Thinley v. Thailand on 6 July 2022 at UKM-YSD Cricket Oval, Bangi.[14]
T20I record versus other nations[11]
Records complete to T20I #2477. Last updated 16 February 2024.
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First match | First win |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs Associate Members | |||||||
 Cambodia |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 February 2024 | |
 China |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 July 2023 | 30 July 2023 |
 Indonesia |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 February 2024 | |
 Malaysia |
4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 July 2022 | |
| Maldives |
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 December 2019 | 4 July 2022 |
 Myanmar |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 July 2023 | 26 July 2023 |
| Nepal |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 December 2019 | |
 Saudi Arabia |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 February 2024 | |
 Thailand |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 July 2022 | 6 July 2022 |
Other records
For a list of selected international matches played by Bhutan, see Cricket Archive.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Ireland and Afghanistan ICC newest full members amid wide-ranging governance reform". International Cricket Council. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.
- ^ "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
- ^ "T20I matches - 2024 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
- ^ Country: Bhutan – CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ Other matches played by Bhutan Archived 31 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine – CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ "About Us | Bhutan Cricket Council Board". 16 October 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
- ^ "Cricket making giant strides in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan". 11 July 2021.
- ^ "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "National cricket team wins first international title". Kuensel Online. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Records / Bhutan / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ "Records / Bhutan / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ "Records / Bhutan / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ "Records / Bhutan / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
