Sports

Warner Arrives in Nepal to Join Kathmandu Gorkhas for NPL

By Binod Pandey Binod Pandey is a sports reporter for the Kantipur Publications.

Former Australian opener David Warner has arrived in Nepal to play for Kathmandu Gorkhas in the Nepal Premier League. The franchise welcomed him at Tribhuvan International Airport. Warner is slated to make his debut against Karnali Yaks in the first match of the day on Monday, which starts at 12:30 pm. Kathmandu Gorkhas lost their opening game of the season, falling eight wickets to Janakpur Bolts. Warner is the most prominent overseas signing in the NPL to date.

Warner was a key member of Australian squads that won the 2015 and 2023 One‑Day International World Cups and the 2021 T20 World Cup, where he was named Player of the Tournament. He also played in Australia’s World Test Championship‑winning side in 2021‑23. In his international career, he played 112 Tests, 161 ODIs and 110 T20 Internationals, scoring nearly 19,000 runs, including 49 centuries. His T20 International tally stands at 3,277 runs at a strike rate of 142.48, with 8,786 Test runs and 6,932 ODI runs.

Warner last represented Australia at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies. In 2019 he scored an unbeaten 335 against Pakistan in Adelaide, the second‑highest individual score by an Australian in Test cricket. The 40‑year‑old has played 439 T20 matches across all formats, scoring over 14,000 runs at a strike rate above 140.

He made his IPL debut with Delhi Daredevils in 2009 and stayed with the franchise until 2013. He joined Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014, captained them in 2015, and led the team to its first IPL title in 2016. Warner scored more than 500 runs in seven IPL seasons and finished as the tournament’s leading run‑scorer in 2015, 2017 and 2019. He remained with Sunrisers Hyderabad until 2021 before returning to Delhi Capitals in 2022.