Who is Dipendra Singh Airee? 5 interesting facts about Nepal batter who smashed six sixes in an over
Nepal all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee stole the limelight on Saturday (April 13), as he smashed six sixes off an over in a T20I fixture against Qatar in the ACC Men's Premier Cup in Al Amerat. With this achievement, he joined Yuvraj Singh (2007) and Kieron Pollard (2021) as the only players to achieve this feat.
With Nepal at 174/7 in 19 overs, Airee took 36 runs from an over against Kamran Khan and helped the team to post 210 on the board. He then picked up two wickets as well to restrict Qatar to 178/9, as Nepal won by 32 runs.
Making his international debut in 2018, Airee has amassed more than 2,500 runs across all formats. The 24-year-old also has a combined 69 wickets to his name.
On that note, let's take a look at a few interesting facts about the talented Nepalese all-rounder.
#1 One of first 11 players to feature in an ODI for Nepal
In March 2018, Nepal gained an ODI status after beating Papua New Guinea during the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
Airee was a part of the Nepal team that played its first ODI against the Netherlands on August 1, 2018. Chasing 190, he contributed 33 off 48 balls before his team were bundled out for 134 and lost the game by 55 runs.
#2 Broke Yuvraj Singh's record of fastest fifty in T20s
In September 2023, Nepal faced Mongolia in the Asian Games. Batting first, Kushal Malla (137* off 50) was in sensational form while skipper Rohit Paudel (61 off 27) supported him well.
Dipendra Singh Airee came in at No. 5 and smacked a half-century of nine balls while registering the fastest fifty in T20s. His innings of 52* off 10 balls, comprised eight sixes, with six consecutive maximums coming in different overs. In the end, Nepal posted a mammoth total of 314 on the board and won by 273 runs.
#3 Dipendra Singh Airee's favorite cricketer is MS Dhoni
In a video that surfaced on X last year by an account named, ICC Asia Cricket, Dipendra Singh Airee was asked three questions by the interviewer.
When asked about the best captain and his dream batting partner, Airee chose MS Dhoni. He also revealed that his favorite cricketers are Steve Smith and Dhoni.
#4 Sacked from vice-captain role in 2021
In December 2021, Gyanendra Malla and Dipendra Singh were sacked from their captaincy and vice-captaincy roles, respectively, due to disciplinary issues.
Both cricketers, along with Sompal Kami and Kamal Singh Airee, were not offered central contracts by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). Spinner Sandeep Lamichhane was appointed as the leader of the Nepal team.
This all happened due to the players breaking the Code of Conduct and expressing their dissatisfaction over CAN's decision to the media.
#5 Airee's all-round performance propel Nepal to win over India in U19 Asia Cup 2017
In the U19 Asia Cup 2017/18, Dipendra Singh Airee captained the Nepal team to the semi-finals before they lost to Afghanistan.
On their way to the knockouts, Nepal prevailed over India by 19 runs. Batting first, Nepal posted 185 on the board, with skipper Airee smashing 88 off 101 balls. Thereafter, the talented all-rounder finished with figures of 4/39 to help his team cause a major upset.