22 Chait, Kathmandu. As much as there was a surprise when Gyanendra Malla retired from the sports life of nearly two decades, there was a bigger surprise when he entered politics.

Gyanendra, who suddenly retired from international sports at the age of 33, entered politics within 2 years of his training. That was unexpected for Nepali cricket fans.

When he entered politics, Gyanendra was the assistant coach of the Nepali cricket team. Gyanendra, who was an important member when Nepal played the World Cup for the first time in 2014, had the opportunity to represent Nepal in the World Cup as a coach. He was also preparing for the same.

At the same time, a person received a phone call, which led him towards politics. In other words, Gyanendra’s third innings started. The phone call that led him into politics was from Kumar Ven, chief advisor of current Prime Minister Balen Shah.

In the beginning, Gyanendra refused to enter politics. Instead, he said that it will come during local elections. Then Wayne said, ‘I am telling you to play IPL, we are telling you to play NPL.’ And Gyanendra’s mind turned towards politics.

Gyanendra says that his entry into politics was not planned but inspired by the desire to create a stable government and do something for future generations. He says, ‘I did not refuse the way he asked a person coming from a sports background. I thought we should do it now.’

After that, Gyanendra resigned from the assistant coach of the national team and entered politics. His name was included in the proportionate ban list from Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RASWPA). During the election campaign, Gyanendra visited the country.

Even though he entered politics, cricket did not leave his inner heart. Therefore, during the election campaign, he sometimes played friendly cricket, and sometimes he understood the problems of cricket.

‘I got a chance to know many people. I got an opportunity to understand the work they are doing at the local level,’ he said.

During the election, Gyanendra sometimes heard complaints about not getting the support he should have in sports from the state, but also saw that he took up sports out of self-interest. He saw how many places lacked general management and felt that sports were in trouble because of politics.

Gyanendra Khel was both excited and nervous before his debut game when he returned after the campaign. Along with this, he also brought positive vibes. He was positive that it will be really good when he comes to Ghumer. He was as excited and nervous as before that debut game,’ he says.

As he thought, the result came in favor of the RSVP. But he himself could not become an MP. That is, even though RSVP won the game, Gyanendra fell behind due to net run rate.

When the names of the 57 proportional MPs received by the Raswap were sent, Gyanendra, who was number five from the tribal tribe, was left out. About that he says, ‘My position is like net run rate. Where we have been stuck many times due to net run rate while playing for Nepal.’

Gyanendra, who was involved in politics while playing cricket, has returned to cricket even after the election. He is now busy running the cricket academy he started himself. Although he is not an MP, Gyanendra says that his purpose has been fulfilled.

‘The purpose of my participation in this election was to form a strong government in the country. There was a desire for the majority,’ he says, ‘now almost two-thirds have come. I am happy.’

Gyanendra is not in favor of making politics a profession. So they have returned to the old area. He says that he took politics as a necessity rather than a profession.

Gyanendra says, ‘It is not my idea to make politics a profession. I took it based on the need and the contribution I could give. Even now, I am always ready when the country needs me.’

Gyanendra, who has found many problems in sports while traveling around the country, is ready to cooperate with the RSVP and the government to solve those problems. He says that policy matters should be changed for the development of sports.

Gyanendra emphasized that sports should be linked with investment. He said, ‘There are many people who invest in sports. But the right path should be opened for them.’

Gyanendra’s argument is that sports should be linked with education. Sports should be included in the curriculum. I think subjects like studying sports science and management should be promoted,’ he says.

Gyanendra has not decided whether he will continue politics in the future or not. He is in favor of moving forward through discussion and consultation. ‘I will take a decision after discussing with everyone. There is no such thing as going away from cricket,’ he says.

He says that even if he is not an MP, he will help bring about change in sports.

Successful in two innings, Gyanendra ‘bold’ in the third.

Gyanendra Malla is one of the successful cricketers. He started his cricket journey from the age group in 2005 and contributed to Nepal as a player for 18 years. After starting his career with the ACC U-15 Cup, he stepped into the senior team through U-17, U-19.

He served as vice-captain of the national team for 10 years and as captain for about 2 years. When Nepal played the T20 World Cup for the first time in 2014, Gyanendra was the vice-captain.

Gyanendra became the captain after the retirement of Paras Khadka. But he lost his position when he raised his voice about the facilities of the players. After some time, he stopped batting and he did not stay away from cricket.

Gyanendra, who retired as a player in July 2080, started his training journey as a coach of the Armed Police Force (APF) in August.

After that, he also took a leap in training. When he was the coach of Karnali Yaks in Nepal Premier League (NPL), he got the opportunity to work as an assistant coach of Nepal ‘A’ and senior team.

Gyanendra entered politics within 2 years of starting his training journey. He formally entered politics a few days before the election on February 21. Gyanendra, who was successful in both the opening innings, got ‘bold’ for the third time.

Gyanendra, who was on the proportionally closed list from RSVP for members of the House of Representatives, could not become an MP. Which stopped his political journey for the time being.