T20 League cricket today has become a festival in every cricket-loving country as Every Cricket nation is launching its own T20 Cricket franchise league, making T20 cricket more interesting than ever, like the PSL of Pakistan, IPL of India, BBL of Australia, The Hundred of England and Wales, and many more.
The Cricket Association of Nepal is also excited about launching the inaugural season of the festival of the Himalayas Nepal Premier League. Here are the 7 things you must Know about the Nepal Premier League.
1. Announcement
In January 2024, the Cricket Association of Nepal(CAN) also announced its T20 Cricket League, Nepal Premier League(NPL), scheduled for November and December 2024.
The Cricket Association of Nepal(CAN) had also previously organized The Nepal T20 league launched in 2022 was officially handled by CAN however it was surrounded by match-fixing allegations and many other controversies.
2. Nepal Premier League Teams
CAN has announced that the Nepal Premier League will feature 8 teams in the inaugural season scheduled for November 30(Mangsir 15) to December 21(Paush 6).
Most names of the teams were given after either the provinces of Nepal or Top Cities of the Nations however Bagmati Province is the only province to have two 2 teams Chitwan and Kathmandu.
The team’s bidding was completed on September 5 starting from the bidding base Price of 1 Crore to the Highest Bidding base price of 1.5 Crores for the Capital City Kathmandu.
Here are the teams of the Nepal Premier League.
| Teams |
|---|
| Sudur Paschim |
| Karnali |
| Janakpur |
| Chitwan |
| Biratnagar |
| Lumbini |
| Pokhara |
| Kathmandu |
The official Franchise league rights will be given to the team management including the brand name of the team, official sponsors, and many more.
3. Base Price of Teams of NPL
A total of 8 teams went through the auction table on September 5 starting from the bidding base Price of 1 Crore to the Highest Bidding price of 1.5 Crores for the Capital City Kathmandu.
| Teams | Base Price(NPR) |
|---|---|
| Sudur Paschim | 1 Crore |
| Karnali | 1 Crore |
| Janakpur | 1 Crore |
| Chitwan | 1.20 Crore |
| Biratnagar | 1.20 Crore |
| Lumbini | 1.20 Crore |
| Pokhara | 1.30 Crore |
| Kathmandu | 1.50 Crore |
4. Nepal Premier League Teams Bidding
The bidding date for the 8 teams of the highly anticipated Nepal Premier League (NPL) was organized by CAN on September 5, Thursday at 4 PM.
The Cricket Association of Nepal distributed 18 applications for the business groups interested in bidding for the teams however 16 business groups submitted their bids. However, Under careful review by Secretary of CAN, Paras Khadka 13 groups were shortlisted out of 16 groups for the Auction.
Two big Brands IME Nepal and Bhatbhateni had to pull out their name from the list before the auction due to dissatisfaction with the CAN in auction procedure and actions.
5. Nepal Premier League Team Owners
The auction of the Nepal Premier League is completed and all 8 teams have got their respective owners through the auction table.
The auction conducted by CAN collected a whopping amount of more than 16 crores 88 lakhs (16,88,93,231) from the auction of the Nepal Premier League.
The highest bid went for the Pokhara as Subodh Gautam and the Pokhara Avengers Teams, who had previously been denied by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) when requesting to be granted Team Pokhara without participating in the auction, have now successfully secured the team Pokhara.
Pokhara was sold for a record-high bid of 3.57 crores, marking a significant achievement for Gautam and Nepal T-Twenty Cricket Pvt. Ltd. The team was sold at a 159.23% increase over its base price.
The second-highest bid, for Team Kathmandu, was secured by Kantipur Media Group and Publication with an impressive amount of 3.33 crores (3,33,33,339) sighting a 122.22% increase over its base price.
Janakpur ranks third on the list, with an impressive bid of 2.05 crores (2,05,00,000) from Dream Sports Pvt.
Team Lumbini was secured by the Fortuna Health Care Pvt.Ltd at 1.86 Crores while Team Chitwan by Chitwan Medical College for the amount of 1.76 crores.
Empire Sports Management secured the Sudurpaschim team for 1.68 crores as its base price was just 1 Crore.
Biratnagar was owned by the M.A.D Dream Sports for just 1.52 Crores while the lowest successful buy was for the team Karnali with an amount of Just 1.11 Crores.
The lowest successful buy sees only an 11.7% increase over its base price.
5. NepalPremier League Intro Video
6. Previous T20 Leagues of Nepal
However, this is not Nepal’s first T20 Cricket League as Everest Premier League in 2017, Nepal T20 League in 2022, and other Regional leagues like Pokhara Premier League and Dhangadi Premier League were already conducted at a big level in Nepal.
7. PLayers Auction
The Secretary of CAN, Paras Khadka, had confirmed that all the Nepalese players will go through the auction table, while foreign players are allowed to directly link with the franchise teams.
However, The dates of the Player auction are yet to be confirmed.
What’s your opinion on Nepal’s Nepal Premier League? Will it be a huge success? Comment below…
Also Read: All-Rounder Alice Tector Debuts against Sri Lanka in the ODI