KATHMANDU: That night, Manisha Upadhyay could not sleep. The moment she lay down, her thoughts returned to the cricket field.

She remembered the crowd carrying off a star player from the ground, the excitement echoing in her mind. At that time, she was preparing to leave the country, convinced her future in cricket was uncertain and under growing pressure.

But the very next morning, the head coach of the Lalitpur Cricket Association, Sudhir Shakya, unexpectedly called her. He invited her to play, and with that simple call, the journey of her international sporting career began.

Today, Manisha, the rising left-arm spinner of Nepal’s women’s cricket team, has already helped write history. With her outstanding performance in the T-20 Global Selection in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2025, she not only fulfilled Nepal’s dream of entering the global stage but also achieved a deeply personal milestone. Reflecting on her journey, she says: “When I think about the past, it feels like watching reels of a movie spinning in front of me.”

Journey from Bajhang to Kathmandu

Manisha was born in Jayaprithivi Municipality, Bajhang. Her mother, Dhana, married at the age of 14 and went on to have six children — three sons and three daughters. Manisha was the fifth among them.

With a large family and little income, her mother faced difficulties in running the household. Her father was already living and working as a laborer in India. In 2009, her mother decided to move to Delhi to provide her children with education. But life there was also not easy, and she struggled to make ends meet.

In 2015, Manisha was sent to Dhangadhi to live with her sister-in-law for her studies. Her sister-in-law believed that children should learn beyond books, so she bought Manisha, then in the sixth grade, her first badminton racquet.

From Manisha Upadhyay’s Facebook

First step toward cricket

Manisha turned out to be talented not just in badminton but also in running. One day, her elder sister spoke about the progress of cricket in her own school. The school cricket team had just returned from playing a school-level tournament in India, where they had finished third. Among the team was Kabita Kunwar, her sister’s close friend. Her sister encouraged her: “Play cricket, sister. If you play cricket, you’ll get to travel abroad in cars and big planes.”

At just 14, Manisha was intrigued. One day, while playing badminton, she met Kavita and expressed her wish to play cricket. Kavita introduced her to the cricket academy at the covered hall in Dhangadhi. At that time, Ruby Poddar, Laxmi Saud, Suman Bista, Yashoda Bista, and others were also training there.

Manisha recalls that she could hardly speak Nepali properly and did not know how to bat or bowl. She laughs when remembering her first day: “The coach asked me — ‘Child, what are you here to do?’ I said, ‘I’ll bowl fast.’ But I didn’t even know what a cricket ball really was. I threw it like throwing a stone.”

Coach Gyanu began by teaching her the basics of bowling with hand rotation. After about 15 days of intense training, she started bowling in proper form.

Early breakthroughs in domestic cricket

After seven months of training, the Sudurpaschim Province team decided to play in the Prime Minister’s Cup Women’s Cricket Tournament in 2016. Manisha managed to secure a spot on the team in a short time. Sudurpaschim eventually became runner-up.

But it was extremely difficult to earn a permanent place in the competitive cricket environment of the far west, bordering India. Manisha too faced the same struggle. Two years later, she and Sneha Mahara traveled to Gandaki Province for trials.

Coach Rijan Praju, who trained her at that time, recalls: “She was short and very young, a medium-pace bowler without much edge in her deliveries. But there was a shortage of left-arm spinners in the age group, so I molded her into a spinner. She performed brilliantly.”

In 2021, Gandaki’s inexperienced squad failed to win a single match in the Prime Minister’s Cup and exited in the group stage. Yet, Manisha stood out. In 3 innings, she bowled 8.1 overs, took 3 wickets with an average of 20, and an economy rate of 4.89 — the highest wicket-taker for Gandaki.

Manisha Upadhyay

That performance earned her a place in Gandaki’s U-19 side for the ICC U-19 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia in 2022. Though she missed matches against Qatar and UAE, she made her debut against Bhutan. Over three innings, she bowled 12 overs, took 5 wickets at an average of 5.20, and maintained an economy of 2.16.

Based on this improvement, she was called up to the senior team’s closed training. But just as she was about to break through, appendicitis forced her to miss the ACC Women’s T-20 Championship in 2022.

Struggles with teams and careers

After that disappointment, Manisha no longer wanted to remain in Gandaki. The team was weak, and her future seemed insecure. Gandaki Province was also unable to provide salaries or facilities to its players.

During the 9th National Games in 2022, she tried to join the Nepal Police Club — a departmental team that could provide both job security and a cricketing platform. But she was unsuccessful. “She wanted to join the police, get a job, and help run the household. Nobody could stop her from trying,” says coach Praju. “But when that didn’t work, she began playing for Bagmati Province instead.”

Work and play in Bagmati Province

Having struggled with hardship from an early age, Manisha believed that if she could secure a departmental job, she could both support her family and continue her education. But the Police Club had only briefly formed a women’s team in 2022 and did not sustain it. Though she had received a release letter from Gandaki, she could not return there either.

At that moment, hope came in the form of all-rounder Yashu Pandey, who helped Bagmati Province start building a stronger squad in 2024. Around the same time, she met Sudhir Shrestha, the head coach of Lalitpur. Shrestha, also known as the bowling coach of senior star Sita Rana Magar, became her mentor.

Manisha shared with him her struggles — Gandaki refusing to take her back, her failure to join the police, and her financial difficulties. Shrestha encouraged her, saying: “Perform well and let your game be the answer.”

Moved by her situation, he immediately contacted Prashanna Shakya, secretary of the Bagmati Province Cricket Association, who owned a jersey printing shop in Hattiban. He arranged a small job for Manisha so she could afford to stay in Kathmandu. “She is talented. If a small step can help secure a career, why not do it?” Shrestha recalls.

In her debut year, Bagmati finished fourth. Manisha managed 5 wickets for 129 runs in 22 overs across 7 innings. Later, she played a key role in Bagmati’s triumph in the Mayadevi Girls U-19 National Cricket Tournament, taking 6 wickets. That performance opened the door to the U-19 national team.

A turning point in Malaysia

Sometimes small incidents decide the course of life. While playing against the UAE in the U-19 Women’s Asia Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia, Nepal was under pressure to win.

On the UKM-USD Cricket Oval ground in Bangi, captain Pooja Mahato placed Manisha at square leg. But while chasing a ball toward third man, she slipped and was struck badly on the head. For a few minutes, she lost sense of the present and began recalling old memories.

“It felt like memory loss. Suddenly I was back in 2022, remembering Kritika Marasini’s captaincy. I thought I was playing in that year’s game,” she recalls. That game, however, was one to forget: on May 21, 2022, under Kritika’s captaincy, Nepal had been bowled out for just 8 runs against the UAE in Malaysia.

Manisha Upadhyay

The injury left her shaken, both physically and mentally. She lost the confidence to bowl or even hold a bat. She missed matches against Thailand, Kuwait, and UAE. Still, Nepal won all three games and qualified for both the ICC U-19 Women’s World Cup and the Asia Cup, topping the group.

It was a historic moment — the first time a Nepali women’s team at any age group reached a World Cup. Yet, despite her contributions, Manisha did not make the final squads for either tournament. Questions clouded her mind.

Wrestling with doubt

Haunted by uncertainty, she thought about quitting. “I told myself — no, I won’t play anymore. I’ll go abroad,” she admits. Yet every night, cricket kept returning to her dreams. What should have been eight hours of sleep stretched into restless nights that felt like days.

She confided in coach Shrestha, who reassured her. Coincidentally, at that time, several Lalitpur players, including regular captain Soni Pakhrin, had gone abroad for the Asia Cup. That left vacancies in the Bagmati Province selection under the Prime Minister’s Cup. Shrestha reminded Manisha of the opportunity and assured her she would even be considered for captaincy.

Looking forward

From Bajhang to Delhi, Dhangadhi to Gandaki, and finally to Kathmandu, Manisha’s journey has been filled with struggles, setbacks, and resilience. With determination and the support of mentors, she has risen as one of the most promising young spinners in Nepali cricket.

Her story is one of perseverance — a tale of a girl who almost left cricket behind but chose instead to dream bigger, play harder, and dominate.