Anju Gurung, Bhutan’s New Captain
From 13 to Captain: Anju Gurung to Lead Bhutan Women’s Cricket
The first time Anju Gurung walked onto an international cricket ground, she was 13 years old, a child in a young nation’s first steps into women’s cricket. There were no templates, no history to lean on—only a game in its infancy and a player asked to grow with it.
Eighteen years later, she leads it.
At 31, Anju Gurung has been named captain of the Bhutan Women’s National Cricket Team for the Lotus Cup 2026 Women’s T20I Tri-Series, an ICC-approved tournament to be hosted in Gelephu, organized by the Bhutan Cricket Council Board with approval from the Bhutan Olympic Committee. Bhutan will host Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia, and for the first time, it will do so under the leadership of a player who has lived every stage of the journey from pioneer to performer, from teenager to captain.
Eighteen years later, she leads it. This appointment does not mark a new chapter. It completes one.
Anju has been part of Bhutanese women’s cricket since its earliest formation. She was present when the country formed its first women’s team, and at just 13, she made her international debut as part of Bhutan’s first-ever U19 Women’s side at the inaugural ACC Women’s U19 Championship in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2008. Against more established nations, she did not merely participate.
She excelled—taking 14 wickets in six matches and finishing as the tournament’s top bowler, a performance that quietly announced Bhutan’s arrival on the international stage.
From the outset, her game was defined by discipline rather than display. A left-arm medium pacer, Anju learned early that control would be her currency. She once bowled wrong-footed, corrected her technique through persistence rather than shortcuts, and refined her craft into one built on late swing, accuracy, and patience.
She is not the bowler who chases moments; she is the one who creates pressure until moments arrive on their own.
I started playing when I was just 13. Every step since has been about more than cricket. It has been about representing my country, inspiring my teammates, and leading with heart. Now as captain, I hope to give the next generation the belief that anything is possible.
Numbers, however, tell only part of the story. Every match, she contributes. Every spell, she steadies. She is not simply a player selected; she is a performer the team depends upon.
Since making her Women’s T20 International debut in 2019 against Hong Kong, China, she has played 34 T20Is, bowling in every innings.
Across 121 overs, including eight maidens, she has claimed 34 wickets while conceding just 467 runs. Her best figures of 3 for 6, an economy rate of 3.85, a bowling average of 13.73, and a strike rate of 21.3 place her among the top 10 most economical Women’s T20I bowlers in the world, according to ESPNcricinfo. For Bhutan, she is the most economical bowler the women’s game has produced.
Leadership followed the same path as her career—earned gradually, tested deliberately. Initially serving as vice-captain, she was handed responsibility before she was handed a title.
Built patiently, shaped by discipline, and sustained by belief, it is a career that has never chased recognition but only responsibility.
During the ACC Women’s T20 Championship in Malaysia in 2022, she captained Bhutan for the first time against Bahrain. On June 22, 2022, in her debut as captain, Bhutan won by 63 runs, with Dechen Wangmo scoring the country’s first-ever T20I half-century. Across three T20Is as captain, her record stands at two wins and one loss, including leading Bhutan to a victory over Kuwait at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Thailand.
Her growth has been sharpened by international exposure. Selected for the Fairbreak Invitational in 2022 and 2023, she represented the Falcons Women, competing alongside and against elite players from across the world.
In Dubai in 2022, she dismissed England’s Sophia Dunkley, took key wickets in the semi-final to help her team reach the final, and finished with seven wickets in five matches, an economy rate of 4.05, earning recognition in the tournament’s Best XI. In 2023, she continued to trouble top batters with her left-arm swing, reinforcing her reputation as a bowler who thrives against quality opposition.
When speaking about those experiences, Anju emphasizes learning—about team culture, encouragement, and the small habits that sustain performance. She has brought those lessons home, along with a renewed focus on developing her batting, particularly in pinch-hitting roles, to serve the team more completely.
Asked today what she wants to build before the Lotus Cup 2026, her answer is not tactical. It is mental. She speaks about mindset—about helping players feel comfortable under pressure, about developing a winning mentality, and about confidence that does not falter when the game tightens. She believes that success begins before the toss, with the belief that the team can handle any moment.
As hosts, Bhutan will carry both opportunity and expectation. Playing at home brings familiarity, support, and the chance to show the world the progress Bhutanese women’s cricket has made. Under Anju Gurung’s leadership, that opportunity is approached with calm assurance rather than spectacle.
From a 13-year-old debutant in Thailand to a 31-year-old captain leading an ICC-approved tournament on home soil, Anju Gurung’s journey mirrors the rise of Bhutanese women’s cricket itself. Built patiently, shaped by discipline, and sustained by belief, it is a career that has never chased recognition—only responsibility.
She was never simply playing the game. She was shaping it. Now, as Bhutan prepares to welcome the world to Gelephu, the team will walk out led by a captain who understands where it began, what it has endured, and what it is ready to become.
Anju Gurung — Bhutan’s economy bowling star, international trailblazer, and the natural leader of a team prepared to be seen.