Kathmandu – The schedule of the most-awaited cricket tournament in Nepal – Nepal Premier League T20 has been unveiled and will take place at Tribhuvan University Ground, Kirtipur from March 26 to April 4.
The previous edition of 50 overs NPL that was held in Dhangadi and Kanchanpur was sponsored by NCell while Wai Wai, a brand of instant noodles by Chaudhary Group (CG) will be sponsoring the T20 edition that will feature six corporate franchises viz. Tez (Panchakanya Group), Colors X-Factors (Tele Talk), Vishal Group Warriors (Vishal Group), Kantipur Gurkhas (Kantipur Publications), Jagdamba Giants (Shankar Group), Sagarmatha Legends (Ghorahi Cement).
NPL is organised by Zohra Sports Management (ZSM) with the technical support of Cricket Association of Nepal. Last year, ZSM originally planned for three events under NPL including the two-day, 50-overs and Twenty20 series but 50 overs tournament was only able to complete and the management called off for two-day games citing various reason.
Similarly, The Twenty20 edition was postponed last year due to disputes against Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and even the franchises. CAN which was once the main organizer of the NPL, had pulled off from the event, accusing ZSM of lack of transparency just a day before the start of NPL’s One Day leg.
“I am thankful to CG Foods for joining hands with Nepal Premier League. CG Foods has always been supporting Nepali Cricket with earlier tie ups as well at U-19 level. NPL is going to be a different flavor altogether and I am sure we shall work closely to uplift the development of cricket in Nepal”, Aamir Akhtar, the M.D. of Zohra Sports Management said.
The participating franchises are led by National team cricketers. Sharad Vesawkar leads the Tej team which had won the 50-over event held in Dhangadi and Kanchanpur. Similarly, National team skipper Paras Khadka leads Vishal Group Warriors, Basanta Regmi captains Kantipur Gurkhas and 50-over finalists Giants is skippered by Shakti Gauchan. Binod Bhandari (Legends) and Gyanendra Malla (X Factors) are other captains in the NPL.
The twenty20 edition at the TU ground will have free entry for the audience and the winner of the tournament will get Nrs. 200,000 as the cash prize.
