Sompal Kami

Early life

Originally from Gulmi in western Nepal, his father moved to Punjab with his family. Sompal spent his childhood as an enthusiastic cricket lover. He represented various school level tournaments. Most notable was his participation in Indian Premier Corporate League where he was the captain.

Cricketer

He made his debut for Nepal against UAE in January 2014. He was subsequently selected in the Nepal national cricket team for the 2014 World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand.

Sompal made his entry to Kathmandu Region No. 3 through the Nepali Cricket Fan Club. He was one of the key players of Kathmandu Region No. 3, which won the U-19 National Championship. He broke a record in the tournament by scoring two centuries and achieving the best bowling figures. Through this tournament he impressed the Nepal coach Pubudu Dassanayake and was able to cement his place in the national squad.

In an unofficial tournament, Sagarmatha Cement Journey to World Cup tournament in December 2013 in Kathmandu, Sompal was the leading wicket-taker with 10 wickets from four matches.

He made his first-class debut for Saracens Sports Club in the 2015–16 Premier League Tournament on 26 December 2015 in Sri Lanka.

International career

A right-arm fast bowler, Sompal played six List A matches in the 2014 World Cup Qualifier and took eight wickets – one less than spinner Basanta Regmi. He played three Twenty20 International matches in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, held in Bangladesh, and took four wickets with best figures of 2/13.

Sompal picked up five wickets for 47 against Malaysia in the 2014 ACC Premier League in Malaysia, the best bowling figures of his career. He took 15 wickets in the tournament in total and was adjudged the best tourney's bowler. During the 2014 Asian Games, Sompal took five wickets at an average of just 4.00 and an exceptional economy rate of just 2.50. He was the only Nepalese player to be chosen in the Select XI of the tournament by Asian Cricket Council. He took 11 wickets in the 2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, which Nepal won.

In the first Twenty20 International of Nepal's November 2014 series against Hong Kong (played in Sri Lanka), Sompal, batting tenth, scored 40 runs from 31 balls in Nepal's first innings of 72 all out, which included six fours and two sixes. He consequently set a new record in all Twenty20 matches for the highest score made by a number ten batsman, surpassing the previous figure of 37 runs set by Sri Lankan Pradeep Nishantha in 2007. Sompal and Shakti Gauchan (5*) put on 43 runs for the ninth wicket, the fifth-best ninth-wicket partnership in Twenty20 Internationals.

He was the leading Nepalese wicket-taker in the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two in Namibia. He picked up 11 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 19.18 and an economy of 4.00. In February 2015, he went Sri Lanka after being recruited by Kalutura Physical Culture Club to play in the Emerging Trophy Tournament, three-day cricket tournament. He played 5 matches and picked up 39 wickets in 8 innings. He took 6 wickets in the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier at an average of 19.83 and an economy rate of 7.00.

Man of the match awards

The following list illustrates all the matches in which Kami won Man of the Match award while representing Nepal in international series/tournaments.