Kathmandu – Rajesh Pulami Magar is one of those players who had been providing massive weights to Nepal’s bench strength for years. He was always considered by Dassanayake as one of those players who would eventually play for Nepal. After years of hard work and patience, Rajesh finally made it to the senior squad for the Sri Lanka tour. Pulami also went to England to train at Marleybone Cricket Club in 2013 and played for Marleybone Young Cricketers.
Senior Side 2014-
Sompal Kami starred in the first-class matches the tournament being adjudged player of the match in both matches. He bagged 18 wickets and a scintillating 49 runs innings in the first match.
Rajesh was equally impressive if not more. Lucky enough(and unlucky enough to get a duck in the first innings) to debut for Nepal in a first-class match Rajesh grabbed the opportunity with both hands going into the history books straight away as the highest scorer for Nepal in a First Class match with 95 runs in the second innings. Chasing 299 Nepal on a third-day pitch Nepal were in all sorts of trouble at 45-5, but Rajesh held Nepal’s innings making vital partnerships with Sagar Pun and Sompal. He was the top scorer for Nepal in the second match as well with unbeaten 36 runs.
First Class Stats
| Matches | Innings | Not Outs | Runs | HS | Avg | 100 | 50 | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 131 | 95 | 65.5 | 0 | 1 | 54.81 |
Youth Cricket (2010-2012)
Rajesh comes from Nepal’s glorious U19 past. He represented Nepal in the 2012 U-19 World Cup. He has played only 4 Youth tournaments representing Nepal, all of them U-19: ACC U-19 Elite Cup, U-19 World Cup Qualifier, 2012 U-19 World Cup, and 2012 U-19 Asia Cup.
Pulami did not have many illustrious U-19 tournaments like most Nepalese players from the U-19 squad that make it to the senior side. But what is interesting is how he has improved with every tournament he has played. His best performance in the U19 tournament came against PNG in the World Cup Qualifier where he made 91 runs from only 100 balls.
Over All Stats.
| Matches | Innings | Not Outs | Runs | HS | Avg | 100 | 50 | SR |
| 24 | 20 | 1 | 392 | 91 | 19.6 | 0 | 1 | 57.22 |
ACC Elite Cup 2012
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Balls | SR | Avg | Highest | Not Out | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 3 | 39 | 105 | 37.14 | 13 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2012 U-19 World Cup Qualifier, Ireland
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Balls | SR | Avg | Highest | Not Out | 4 | 6 |
| 9 | 8 | 188 | 345 | 54.49 | 23.5 | 91 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
2012 U-19 Asia Cup
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Balls | SR | Avg | Highest | Not Out | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 | 79 | 90 | 87.77 | 26.66 | 39 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
His average and strike rate rises from 13 and 37 in his first tournament(ACC U-19 Elite Cup 2011) to 26.66 and 87.77 respectively a year later in ACC Asia Cup 2012. It’s worth noting that U-19 Asia Cup was against the likes of India U19 and PakistanU19.
Pulami along with now Subash Khakurel were sponsored by Talwar Sports for the U-19 World Cup in 2012. The sponsorship spanned 2 years.
His performance dips slightly in the World Cup but to be fair the tournament wasn’t all that great for most of Nepalese players.
2012 U-19 World Cup
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Balls | SR | Avg | Highest | Not Out | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 6 | 86 | 145 | 59.61 | 17.1 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Marleybone Cricket Club 2013
In 2013 Rajesh Pulami was one of two(the other being Naresh Budayair) who got the opportunity to train at Marleybone Cricket Club, England in 2012. He played 6 T20s and 1 2-day match and a 40-over match in England for Marleybone Young Cricketers. He wasn’t all that impressive in the matches but certainly outperformed Naresh in those matches.
T20 Stats for Marleybone Young Cricketer Club.
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Balls | SR | Avg | Highest | Not Out | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 5 | 114 | 117 | 97.44 | 22.8 | 40 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
Only 40 over match : 0(1b)
Only 2 Day match: 23(43b)
Domestic Tournament
Rajesh plays for Nepal Army in the national tournament. Nepal Army won the T20 National tournament in their debut tournament and Pulami played a substantial part in it. In the final, he took a wicket and made a quickfire 12 including a six to ease Nepal Army’s 113-run chase against Armed Police Force.
Pulami also represented Colors in the recently concluded Nepal Premier League(NPL). Colors led by Gyanendra Malla did not have a great story to tell except that they defeated the tournament winner Tez in the group stages. Rajesh did not have a great show in Dhangadi either.
NPL Stats
| Innings | Not Outs | Runs | HS | Avg | 100 | 50 | Catches |
| 5 | 1 | 78 | 39 | 15.6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
But everything changed for Pulami in the Div-III practice matches played where he performed in nearly every one of the four matches scoring an average of 59. He wasn’t picked for the Div-3 squad but after Vesawkar was unavailable for Sri Lanka Dassanayake had no hesitancy in picking up Pulami.
