Bhutan national cricket team

Bhutan
Nickname(s)	The Dragons
Association	Bhutan Cricket Council Board
Personnel
Captain	Thinley Jamtsho
Coach	Trishane Nonis
International Cricket Council
ICC status	Associate member (2017)
ICC region	Asia
ICC Rankings
ICC Rankings	Current
T20I	75th
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 Indonesia at Gelephu International Cricket Ground, Gelephu; 24 October 2024
T20Is
T20Is	Played
Total	26
This year	13
	T20I kit
	T20I kit
	As of 24 October 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.

5 December 2019
09:00
Scorecard

Nepal 236/3 (20 overs)	v	Bhutan 95/6 (20 overs)
Gyanendra Malla 107 (55) Karma Dorji 2/45 (4 overs)		Ranjung Mikyo Dorji 27 (23) Paras Khadka 2/11 (4 overs)

Nepal won by 141 runs
Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur
Umpires: Deepal Gunawardene (SL) and Buddhi Pradhan (Nep)
Player of the match: Gyanendra Malla (Nep)

Bhutan won the toss and elected to field.
First ever T20I match for Bhutan.

Grounds

Gelephu International Cricket Ground

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Location of international cricket matches played in Bhutan

Tournament history

ODI World Cup

World Cup record
Year/Host	Round	Position	P	W	L	T	NR
1975	No ICC ODI status/Did not qualify
1979
1983
1987
1992
1996
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
Total	0	0/13	0	0	0	0	0

ICC Champions Trophy

ICC Champions Trophy record
Host & Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
1998	Did not qualify
2000
2002
2004	No ODI status/Did not qualify
2006
2009
2013
2017
2025
2029	To be determined
Total	0/8	0 titles	0	0	0	0	0

ICC T20 World Cup

ICC T20 World Cup record
Year/Host	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2007	Did not qualify
2009
2010
2012
2014
2016
2021
2022
2024
Total	0/9	0	0	0	0	0	0

ACC Asia Cup

ACC Asia Cup record
Host & Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	T	NR
1984	Did not qualify
1986
1988
1990–91
1995
1997
2000
2004
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2022
2023
Total	0/16	0	0	0	0	0	0

ACC Asia Cup Qualifier

ACC Asia Cup Qualifier record
Year/Host	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2016	Did not participate
2018	Did not participate
2022	Did not participate
Total	0/3	0 Titles	0	0	0	0	0

ICC World Cricket League

ICC World Cricket League record
Year/Host	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2010	Plate	7/8	5	1	4	0	0
2012	7th place play-off	8/8	4	0	4	0	0
Total	2/2	0 Titles	9	1	8	0	0

ACC Trophy Elite

ACC Trophy Elite record
Year/Host	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
1996	Did not participate
1998
2000
2002
2004	Group stages	8/10	2	1	1	0	0
2006	Group stages	13/17	4	1	3	0	0
2008	Did not participate
2010	Group stages	8/10	4	1	3	0	0
2012	Group stages	10/10	4	0	4	0	0
Total	4/9	0 Titles	14	3	11	0	0

ACC Twenty20 Cup

ACC Twenty20 Cup record
Year/Host	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2007	Did not participate
2009	Did not participate
2011	Group stages	9/10	4	0	4	0	0
2013	Did not participate
2015	Did not participate
Total	1/5	0 Titles	4	0	4	0	0

ACC Eastern Region T20

ACC Eastern Region T20record
Host & Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2018	Champion	1/4	4	2	1	0	1
Total	1/1	1 Titles	4	2	1	0	1

ACC Challenger Cup

ACC Men's Challenger Cup record
Host/Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2023	Semi-finals	–	4	1	3	0	0
2024	7th place play-off	8/10	4	0	4	0	0
Total	2/2	0 Titles	8	1	7	0	0

ICC T20 World Cup Asia Sub-regional Qualifiers

ICC T20 World Cup Asia Sub-regional Qualifiers records
Host/Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2018	Round-robin	5/7	6	2	4	0	0
2021	Did not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023	Round-robin	3/5	4	2	2	0	0
2024	To be determined
Total	3/3	0 Titles	10	4	6	0	0

Records and statistics

International Match Summary — Bhutan^[10]

Last updated 24 October 2024

Format	M	W	L	T	NR	Inaugural Match
Playing Record
Twenty20 Internationals	26	10	16	0	0	5 December 2019

Twenty20 International

Highest team total: 164/6 v. Cambodia on 5 February 2024 at Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok.^[11]
Highest individual score: 66*, Thinley Jamtsho v. Cambodia on 5 February 2024 at Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok.^[12]
Best individual bowling figures: 4/13, Ngawang Thinley v. Thailand on 6 July 2022 at UKM-YSD Cricket Oval, Bangi.^[13]

T20I record versus other nations^[10]

Records complete to T20I #2932. Last updated 24 October 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	3	2	1	0	0	1 February 2024	22 October 2024
Malaysia	4	0	4	0	0	2 July 2022
Maldives	8	4	4	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	5	2	3	0	0	6 July 2022	6 July 2022

Other records

For a list of selected international matches played by Bhutan, see Cricket Archive.

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.
^ ^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.

External links

Bhutan Cricket official site

[Assoc-1] "Ireland and Afghanistan ICC newest full members amid wide-ranging governance reform". International Cricket Council. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

[ICC_Rankings-2] "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.

[Cricinfo_T20I_Records-3] "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.

[Cricinfo_2024_T20I_Records-4] "T20I matches - 2024 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.

[5] Country: Bhutan – CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 September 2015.

[6] Other matches played by Bhutan Archived 31 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine – CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 September 2015.

[7] "About Us | Bhutan Cricket Council Board". 16 October 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

[8] "Cricket making giant strides in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan". 11 July 2021.

[9] "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

[T20I-10] "Records / Bhutan / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 July 2022.

[11] "Records / Bhutan / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2019.

[12] "Records / Bhutan / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2019.

[13] "Records / Bhutan / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2019.

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v t e Sports in Bhutan
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National teams	Basketball M W Cricket M W Football M W Futsal

v t e National sports teams of Bhutan
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