According to the 1877 book, History of Nepal edited by Daniel Wright: "Attempts have been made at various times by their tutors to get the young men to play cricket and other games, but such amusements are thought degrading".

[9]Over time, cricket came to be considered a gentleman's sport, and involvement was limited mainly to the ruling Rana family and other members of the Nepali elite.

[11] The local population's interest in cricket increased quickly, and the demand to play was such that restrictions had to be placed on the number teams in several tournaments until more facilities could be built in the mid-1990s.

[11] Nepal became an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council on February 2, 1996,[8] which was the year the national side played for the first time in the 1996 ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur.

Later, Nepal appeared in the 2008 ACC Trophy Elite and finished fourth after losing to the UAE in the semi-final[35] and to Afghanistan in the playoff for third place.

[38] Nepal won their first major tournament, beating USA in the final of 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Five held at Kathmandu in February 2010.

[49] In September 2012, Nepal appeared in 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four, where Subash Khakurel and Anil Mandal both scored century.

Shakti Gauchan smacked Shadeep Silva's left-arm for a six, but could manage only one run off the last ball, hence ending a splendid final match in a tie.

Nepal easily marched towards the final of the tournament with high class performance from their captain, Paras Khadka, and the team thrashed the UAE by 6 wickets.

On 11 April 2015, Nepal hosted a 63-over (31.3 overs per side) tribute match in honour of the Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes who was batting on 63 when he was struck by a bouncer.

On 15 March, Nepal claimed One Day International (ODI) status for the first time with their win over Papua New Guinea in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier 9th place play off encounter.

[99] Kushal Malla (Nep) made his ODI debut, and at the age of 15 years and 340 days, he became the youngest male cricketer to score an international half-century while playing against the USA on February 8, 2020.

[104] Sandeep Lamichhane won the man of the match award for his impressive bowling attack of 4/35 in his 10 overs, while Rohit Paudel scored the highest for Nepal with a steady knock of 41 off 65.

In the second ODI, Nepal won by a whopping 151 runs with Sandeep Lamichhane again winning the man of the match award for his exceptional bowling of 6/11 in 5.1 overs.

[135] In early February 2023, just before the home series against the table-topper Scotland and table-third ranked Namibia, Nepal hired Monty Desai as the head coach of the national team.

Sandeep was allowed to travel to UAE where he joins the team in replacement for the injured Mousom Dhakal to play against the home side.

Thanks to half-century contributions by Kushal Bhurtel(50), Bhim Sharki(67), Aarif Sheikh(52), and Gulsan Jha(50*), Nepal was 269/6 in 44 overs winning the match by 9 runs due to DLS method.

[168] Following the tournament, Nepal travelled to Zimbabwe to play 2 warm-up matches prior to the main-event 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in June–July 2023.

[188] The 3rd wicket partnership of 193 runs between Rohit Paudel and Kushal Malla broke the previous T20I record of 184 between Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips of New Zealand against West Indies.

[199] In Mid-October, right before the 2023 ICC Men's T20 World cup Asia Regional Final, Nepal hosted a triangular series against UAE and Hong Kong as a preparation for the main event to be held later that month.

The first ODI witnessed an outstanding performance, with Captain Rohit Paudel's career-best figures of 4-22 leading Nepal to a triumphant 7-run victory.

Anil Sah and Bhim Sharki delivered outstanding centuries, guiding Nepal to a comprehensive win and sealing a clean sweep.

As Nepal gears up for the trilateral CWC League 2 series, their formidable display, particularly Sah's standout performances, positions them as a force to be reckoned with in the global cricketing arena.

[216] In Nepal's debut match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2024 Group D stage on June 4, 2024, they faced the Netherlands at Dallas.

This historic encounter marked the beginning of Nepal's campaign in the tournament, as they sought to make a strong impression in their second World Cup appearance after 10 years.

Despite putting up a valiant effort, Nepal fell short against the formidable Dutch side, with the match concluding in a closely contested result.

Reflecting on the match, Nepal's captain Rohit Paudel acknowledged the challenging batting conditions and highlighted the need for stronger partnerships to set a competitive total.

While Nepal's bowlers displayed tenacity, missed catching opportunities proved costly, allowing the Netherlands to chase down the target with ease.

Max O'Dowd's resilient half-century, supported by Bas de Leede's decisive boundary, sealed the victory for the Netherlands, despite Nepal's spirited performance.

Nepal's bowling attack, spearheaded by Kushal Bhurtel, who took 4/19 and Dipendra Singh Airee, who took 3/21 restricted South Africa to only 115/7, with Reeza Hendricks top-scoring with 47 runs.