Rahul Yadav — Janakpur’s second wicket-taker

Janakpur’s second wicket-taker

Rahul Yadav has taken 9 wickets in six matches for Janakpur Bolts in NPL Season 3 — second only to captain Harmeet Singh’s 11 in the side — including 4 for 31 against Kathmandu Gorkhas in Match 5, for which he was named Player of the Match.

Bowler. He is not in the Bolts’ pre-season verified squad list — he is one of the players who have appeared for Janakpur this season without being in that list — but he has bowled in all six of the side’s matches, and only the captain has taken more wickets. He is the support act Harmeet Singh the captain has leaned on most.

The season turned on Match 5, against Kathmandu Gorkhas on 29 October. Janakpur bowled the league leaders out for 115, and Rahul Yadav took 4 for 31 in his four overs — his best figures of the season — as the Bolts chased it down with eight wickets in hand. It was his Player of the Match performance, and it remains the only time this season he has taken more than two wickets in a game.

The rest of the season has been steady rather than spectacular. He took 2 for 15 in the opener against Karnali Yaks in Match 3, a 19-run defeat, and 2 for 17 in two overs against Lumbini Lions in Match 14, a 16-run defeat. The quiet games were the two-run defeat to Biratnagar Kings in Match 12 — no wicket for 29 — and the nine-run win over Pokhara Avengers in Match 9, where he went wicketless for 23 in two overs. In Match 21 against Sudurpaschim Royals he took 1 for 24 and made 11 off 6 balls with the bat, bowled by Kharel, as Janakpur were bowled out for 93.

Season 3 in numbers

Six matches, 9 wickets at an average of 15.44, and an economy of 6.95. Rahul Yadav has bowled 20 overs — the joint-most by a Janakpur bowler alongside his captain — and taken a wicket in four of his six games.

Season 3 figures cover every completed match through Match 21 (the abandoned Match 7 produced no play), compiled from the published match scorecards and updated 10 November 2026.

The batting is a footnote: 12 runs in two innings, with a highest score of 11 off 6 balls in Match 21. He was 1 not out off 10 balls in the opener against Karnali Yaks. His job is with the ball, and the average of 15.44 runs per wicket is the second-best among Janakpur’s bowlers with more than a handful of wickets — behind only Harmeet Singh’s 12.45.

Match by match

Every innings and every spell, in match order. An asterisk means not out. Full scores for every game are on the NPL Results page.

What the numbers mean

The value is in the spread. Nine wickets across four different matches means Rahul Yadav is not a one-game wonder — he has been a threat in two-thirds of the games he has played, and his two-wicket hauls have come in both wins and defeats. The economy of 6.95 sits between Harmeet Singh’s 5.83 and the rest of the attack, which is exactly where a second bowler should be: not as tight as the captain, but taking wickets often enough that batters cannot simply see him off.

The gap is the ceiling. Four for 31 in Match 5 is his only haul above two wickets, and in the two closest games of the season — the two-run defeat to Biratnagar and the nine-run win over Pokhara — he went wicketless. Janakpur’s season has been decided by those margins, and the bowlers around Harmeet have had to find one more wicket in each of them. Rahul Yadav has found it more often than anyone else in the side bar the captain.

Where the Bolts stand

Janakpur Bolts sit fifth in the NPL points table on 4 points from six matches — two wins, four defeats, net run rate −0.303. One league match remains: Chitwan Rhinos on Friday 13 November at 4:30 PM NST (3:45 PM PKT, 10:45 AM UTC) at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. It is a straight shootout — the winner stays in the playoff race and the loser is out. Chitwan sit one place above Janakpur on 5 points, so a Bolts win takes them past the Rhinos, and leaves Chitwan needing to beat Karnali Yaks on Sunday to stay alive themselves.

The playoffs follow the league stage: Qualifier 1 on Tuesday 17 November, the Eliminator on Wednesday 18 November, Qualifier 2 on Thursday 19 November and the final on Saturday 21 November, all at 4:30 PM NST at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.