Aarif Sheikh

Aarif Sheikh (Nepali: आरिफ शेख्; born 5 October 1997) is a Nepalese cricketer, who was the former vice-captain of the Nepal national under-19 cricket team, and currently plays for the senior team. All-rounder Aarif is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler.[1] He made his debut for Nepal against Hong Kong in May 2014.[2]

Aarif Sheikh
Personal information
Born (1997-10-05) 5 October 1997
Birgunj, Nepal
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
RoleBatsman
RelationsAasif Sheikh (brother)
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 1)1 August 2018 v Netherlands
Last ODI30 August 2023 v Pakistan
T20I debut (cap 18)29 July 2018 v Netherlands
Last T20I29 August 2022 v Kenya
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2015–2015APF
2015–2015GoldenGate
2014–2014Birgunj
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA
Matches 47 31 1 69
Runs scored 878 405 29 1186
Batting average 25.08 21.31 14.50 21.17
100s/50s 0/6 0/0 0/0 0/7
Top score 66 39* 19 66
Balls bowled 669 72 30 723
Wickets 6 3 0 6
Bowling average 88.16 26.33 – 93.83
5 wickets in innings 0 – – 0
10 wickets in match 0 – – 0
Best bowling 1/16 – – 1/16
Catches/stumpings 21/– 10/– 0/– 27/–
Source: ESNPcricinfo,, 18 June 2023
Medal record
Representing    Nepal
Men's Cricket
South Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place2019 Kathmandu/PokharaTeam

He represents the APF Club of the National League and GoldenGate International College, which plays in the SPA Cup. He was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Nepal's first ever One Day International (ODI) match, against the Netherlands, in August 2018.

His younger brother, Aasif Sheikh, has played for the Nepal under-19 cricket team. Aarif has been known for guiding his younger brother as a mentor in their childhood. In the final of the 2016 Everest Premier League, Aasif scored 111* eventually helping his team Panchakanya Tej to win the title.[3]

Career

Early career

Aarif first represented Nepal Under-19s in the 2014 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in December 2013. He scored 25 runs against Pakistan,[4] 40 runs against India[5] and 48 runs against UAE[6] in the tournament.

In the national one day tournament held in Kathmandu, he was named Player of the Tournament where he scored a total of 261 runs with an average of 52.20 and picked up 11 wickets.[7]

Following his impressive performances in the national tournament, he was selected in the national squad for the 2014 ACC Premier League.[8] Playing his debut match for Nepal, he picked up 2 wickets against Hong Kong where he also bowled the Hong Kong captain Jamie Atkinson.[2] He also picked up 2 wickets in the match against Afghanistan.[9]

He went to India along with his teammate Karan KC in September 2014 for a 10-day training at Just Cricket Academy in Bangalore before participating in the 2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament.[10]

He represented Nepal Under-19s in the 2014 ACC Under-19 Premier League, where he was the second leading run scorer. He scored 190 runs in 5 innings at an average of 38.00.[11] He made List A debut in 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two in Namibia in January 2015.[12]

2018-present

In January 2018, he was named in Nepal's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament.[13]

In July 2018, he was named in Nepal's squad for their One Day International (ODI) series against the Netherlands.[14] These were Nepal's first ODI matches since gaining ODI status during the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.[15] He made his Twenty20 debut for Nepal in the 2018 MCC Tri-Nation Series against the Marylebone Cricket Club on 29 July 2018.[16] He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) on the same day, against the Netherlands.[17] He made his ODI debut for Nepal against the Netherlands on 1 August 2018.[18]

In August 2018, he was named in Nepal's squad for the 2018 Asia Cup Qualifier tournament.[19] In October 2018, he was named in Nepal's squad in the Eastern sub-region group for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Asia Qualifier tournament.[20]

He made his first-class debut on 6 November 2019, for Nepal against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), during the MCC's tour of Nepal.[21][22] Later the same month, he was named in Nepal's squads for the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Bangladesh,[23] and the men's cricket tournament at the 2019 South Asian Games.[24] The Nepal team won the bronze medal, after they beat the Maldives by five wickets in the third-place playoff match.[25] In September 2020, he was one of eighteen cricketers to be awarded with a central contract by the Cricket Association of Nepal.[26]

References
  1. "Aarif Sheikh". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  2. "11th Match: Hong Kong v Nepal at Kuala Lumpur, May 5, 2014 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  3. "Aasif Sheikh: Dream is to play for national side, with dai at other end". Onlinekhabar. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  4. "3rd Match, Group A: Nepal Under-19s v Pakistan Under-19s at Dubai (CA), Dec 28, 2013 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  5. "6th Match, Group A: India Under-19s v Nepal Under-19s at Dubai (CA), Dec 29, 2013 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  6. "12th Match, Group A: United Arab Emirates Under-19s v Nepal Under-19s at Sharjah, Dec 31, 2013 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  7. "Birgunj triumph over APF in National One Day Final". Nepal Cricket. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. "Arif selected for ACC Premier League". myrepublica.com.
  9. "13th Match: Afghanistan v Nepal at Kuala Lumpur, May 7, 2014 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  10. "Arif, Karan to train in India". myrepublica.com.
  11. "Cricket Records - Records - Asian Cricket Council Under-19 Premier League, 2014/15 - Most runs - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014.
  12. "Scorecard of Namibia v Nepal, WCL Division Two 2015". Cricinfo.
  13. "Nepali Cricket team announced for Division 2". My Republica. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  14. "Nepal spinner Shakti Gauchan to retire after Netherlands tour". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  15. "Nepal thrash PNG to secure ODI status". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  16. "2nd Match, Nepal tour of England and Netherlands at London, Jul 29 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  17. "3rd Match, Nepal tour of England and Netherlands at London, Jul 29 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  18. "1st ODI, Nepal tour of England and Netherlands at Amstelveen, Aug 1 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  19. "Nepal announce squad for Asia Cup Qualifier, fixtures decided". The Himalayan. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  20. "Exciting battle on the cards in the ICC World T20 Asia Qualifier B in Malaysia". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  21. "Marylebone Cricket Club tour of Nepal at Kirtipur, Nov 6-8 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  22. "Overseas Tour". MCC. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  23. "Final Squad Announced For Emerging Cup, Khadka and Lamichhane Miss Out". dailylivescores. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  24. "Lamichhane to miss SAG". My Republica. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  25. "South Asian Games: Bronze for Nepal in men's cricket". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  26. "Nepal: Women to receive inaugural central contracts, all cricketers to be insured". Emerging Cricket. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
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