KATHMANDU: Nepal skipper and goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu became the most capped player after he was included in the starting XI for the second international friendly match against India here at the Dasharath Stadium on Sunday.

Limbu had equalled the record of 73 caps with former skipper Biraj Maharjan in the first match on Thursday and he moved one ahead in the second and final match of the series which Nepal lost 2-1. Limbu made national team debut in the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifier against Macau in 2008. But he broke his jaw in the 24th minute and it took him almost three years to earn the second cap although he returned to the national team nine months later.

Limbu, who was the member of the team that won AFC Solidarity Cup - his first title in 45 matches - in 2016, took over the captaincy from Biraj Maharjan in a friendly match against Bhutan in 2018. He has led the national team in 17 matches so far and he has returned with clean sheets on 24 occasions.

In his 13-year career, the World Cup qualifying match against Jordan in 2011 remains the worst one in terms of goals conceded as Nepal had faced a 9-0 defeat. A version of this article appears in the print on September 6 2021, of The Himalayan Times.