The Nepal Premier League (NPL) franchises will bid for 37 slots in their squads at a mini auction in Kathmandu on Saturday afternoon, August 9, ahead of the league’s second season later this year.
The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) shortlisted 150 players from the 458 who registered last month for the auction process. They include eight Category A players—Arjun Saud, Dilip Nath, Dev Khanal, Pawan Sarraf, Sharad Veswakar, Mohammad Adil Alam, Surya Tamang and Sunam Gautam—35 Category B players, and 107 Category C players.
Category A players carry a price of Rs 1 million to Rs 1.5 million; Category B, Rs 500,000 to Rs 1 million; and Category C, Rs 200,000 to Rs 500,000.
Each NPL team will be a 16-member squad: one marquee, three Category A players, four Category B players, three Category C players, one local ‘Talent Hunt’ pick, and up to four foreign players. Saturday’s auction is for national players only; franchises will sign foreign players separately.
Teams were allowed to retain up to seven players from the inaugural season. Five franchises—Biratnagar Kings, Sudurpaschim Royals, Lumbini Lions, Chitwan Rhinos and Kathmandu Gorkhas—have retained six each, while Pokhara Avengers, Karnali Yaks and defending champions Janakpur Bolts have retained seven apiece, for a total of 51 players.
The retained list includes eight marquees, 20 Category A players, nine Category B players and 14 Category C players. Bipin Sharma, picked through a Talent Hunt by Karnali Yaks last season, has been retained as a Category C player.
On Saturday, franchises will compete for four Category A, 23 Category B and 10 Category C slots.
In the first season, each team’s auction purse ranged from Rs 6.5 million to Rs 9 million, excluding the costs for the marquee.
you need to login before leave a comment
Write a Comment
Comments
No comments yet.