Rubina Chhetri

Rubina Chhetry (; born 26 November 1993) is a Nepali cricketer who plays for the women's national cricket team as a right-arm medium pace bowler. She is the former captain of the team appointed in 2012, when she replaced Nary Thapa. In 2009, she became the first cricketer to take a hat-trick for Nepal in an international match, and in 2019 she took Nepal's first hat-trick in a Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I).

Early life and education Chhetry hails from Kakkarvitta, a neighbourhood of Mechinagar municipality in the district of Jhapa, eastern Nepal. She was raised by a single mother, and attended North Point School in Jhapa.

When Chhetry was 12 years old, she first played cricket. She would sit close to the balcony of her home and watch them. One day, she accompanied her brother to the ground and joined in.

In 2019, Chhetry was selected as the captain and marquee player of Bhairahawa Queens, which was to have been one of four teams competing in an NCL Women's T20 Cricket League tournament later that year. However, the tournament was postponed twice and did not go ahead.

A replacement tournament, the Women's Champions League, was organised for October 2019. Chhetri was appointed as captain and marquee player of Kat Queens Kathmandu, one of the five teams competing in the tournament. She led that team into the final, including by scoring 83 against Pokhara Paltan, 35* against Biratnagar Titans, 59* against Lalitpur Falcons, and finally, by taking four wickets for four, and then scoring 34*, in the eliminator against Biratnagar Titans.

Although Kat Queens was then defeated in the final by Chitwan Rhinos, Chhetry was named player of the tournament for her 214 runs and five wickets. which attracted the largest number of attendees ever at a women's cricket match in Nepal. She was also named Player of the Final; she scored 18 runs, shared in an opening partnership of 58, and took 2–14.

International career Chhetry was selected for the national team as a 15 year old, after playing in a selection competition in Kathmandu. The Nepalgunj team in the competition had eight players who were already in the national team, and was the best of all the teams. Against that team, Chhetry took 6 wickets in 4 overs conceding only 9 runs, a performance that secured national selection for her.

The hat-trick was the first for Nepal in any form of international cricket.

On 12 January 2019, Chhetry made her WT20I debut for, and also captained, Nepal in the team's first ever WT20I, against China in the Thailand Women's T20 Smash tournament. Nepal won that match, by 10 wickets. Chhetry also represented Nepal in the 2019 ICC Women's Qualifier Asia in Bangkok, Thailand. The latter tournament was an Asia region qualifier for the 2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier as well as the 2020 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, with the top team progressing to both of the further Qualifier tournaments. On 27 February 2019, in the final round of matches in the Asia qualifier, Chhetry took a hat-trick and was player of the match against Kuwait; it was Nepal's first hat-trick in a WT20I. Nepal finished the tournament in second place, after Thailand.

In September 2020, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) announced its first award of central contracts for female players. Chhetry was one of six women contracted as grade "A" players. She told The Kathmandu Post, "This contract should have been awarded a long time ago, but I would say it's better late than never."

In October 2021, Chhetry was named as the captain of Nepal's side for the 2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates. In the lead up to that tournament, she was player of the series in a three match bilateral series against Qatar in Qatar.

In early May 2022, Chhetry played two matches for the Barmy Army team at the privately run 2022 FairBreak Invitational T20 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In the second half of that month, she captained Nepal in a five-match bilateral WT20I series against Uganda at Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Nepal. Uganda won the series 3–2; which Uganda won by six wickets.

Off the field Other sports Chhetry has also represented Nepal at the highest level in both table tennis and volleyball.

Professional life In the mid-2010s, Chhetry and her brother started up a cricket academy in Jhapa.