The inaugural edition of the Nepal Premier League will be played from November 30 to December 21.

Organised by the Cricket Association of Nepal, the NPL 2024 is a franchise T20 cricket league with eight teams playing a total of 32 matches over three weeks. All the matches will be played at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Nepal.

Biratnagar Kings, Janakpur Bolts, Karnali Yaks, Kathmandu Gurkhas, Lumbini Lions, Pokhara Avengers, Sudurpaschim Royals and Chitwan Rhinos are the eight participating teams in the tournament.

Each franchise will have a 16-member squad with 10 players selected from the auction held on October 6. 

One marquee player will be assigned to each team with four foreign players to be signed outside of the auction and one iconic player to be selected from a local talent hunt.

Out of the foreign players, one player should be from an associate nation with teams signing all of them through a draft based on their interest and budget. 

Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan ( Karnali Yaks), the New Zealand duo of Martin Guptill (Biratnagar Kings) and James Neesham (Janakpur Bolts), Ben Cutting (Lumbini Lions), Bas De Leede and Andries Gous (both Pokhara Avengers) are some of the popular foreign players to be rostered by the franchises.

Wicketkeeper-batter Anil Kumar Sah attracted bids from all eight teams before being signed by Janakpur Bolts for a sum of NRs 1.5 million. 

Lokesh Bam (Biratnagar Kings), Pratish GC (Biratnagar Kings), Lalit Rajbanshi (Janakpur Bolts), Gulshan Kumar Jha (Karnali Yaks), Shahab Alam (Kathmandu Gurkhas), Bhim Sharki (Kathmandu Gurkhas), Surya Tamang (Lumbini Lions), Bibek Yadav (Lumbini Lions), Sundeep Jora (Lumbini Lions), Sagar Dhakal (Pokhara Avengers), Akash Chand (Pokhara Avengers) and Md Aarif Sheikh (Sudurpaschim Royals) were the other cricketers sold for an identical sum at the Nepal Premier League 2024 auction.

As many as 80 players were sold from an auction pool of 142 players with each team signing 10 players from a maximum available budget of NRs 90 lakhs. 

Lumbini Lions was the highest-spending franchise with an outlay of NRs 84,75,000 while Chitwan Rhinos spent the least amount getting their players at a total sum of NRs 63,00,000.

With that, let us have a detailed look at the players of all the eight teams that will play in the inaugural edition of the Nepal Premier League from November 30.

NPL 2024 players list: Know the Nepal Premier League squads

Biratnagar Kings: Sandeep Lamichhane (Marquee Player), Lokesh Bam, Pratish GC, Bashir Ahmad, Rajesh Pulami Magar, Jitendra Kumar Mukhiya, Anil Kharel, Dipak Bohara, Subhash Bhandari, Naren Bhatta, Mrinal Gurung, Chris Sole, Martin Guptill, Nicholas Kirton, Aqib Ilyas, Ismat Alam.

Chitwan Rhinos: Kushal Malla (Marquee Player), Rijan Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee, Sharad Vesawkar, Bipin Rawal, Santosh Karki, Dipesh Shrestha, Amar Singh Rautela, Deepak Bohara, Ranjeet Kumar, Gautam KC, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Marchant De Lange, Luc Benkenstein, Hassan Eisakhil.

Janakpur Bolts: Aasif Sheikh (Marquee Player), Lalit Rajbanshi, Anil Kumar Sah, Rupesh K Singh, Kishore Mahato, Aakash Tripathi, Shubh Kansakar, Sher Malla, Hemant Dhami, Arniko Prasad Yadav, Tul Bahadur Thapa Magar, James Neesham, Sohaib Maqsood, Lahiru Milantha, Muhammad Mohsin, Joshua Tromp.

Karnali Yaks: Sompal Kami (Marquee Player), Gulshan Kumar Jha, Nandan Yadav, Mausam Dhakal, Arjun Gharti, Dev Khanal, Rit Gautam, Bhuban Karki, Dipendra Rawat, Dipak Dumre, Unish Bikram Singh Thakuri, Shikhar Dhawan, Chadwick Walton, Babar Hayat, Hussain Talat.

Kathmandu Gurkhas: Karan KC (Marquee Player), Shahab Alam, Bhim Sharki, Rashid Khan, Shankar Rana, Dipesh Prasad Kandel, Sumit Maharjan, Krishna Karki, Bibek KC, Pratik Shrestha, Raju Rizal, Michael Levitt, Gerhard Erasmus, Stevie Sean Eskinazi, Dan Douthwaite.

Lumbini Lions: Rohit Kumar Paudel (Marquee Player), Surya Tamang, Bibek Yadav, Sundeep Jora, Aashutosh Ghiraiya, Tilak Raj Bhandari, Durgesh Gupta, Arjun Saud, Dinesh Adhikari, Abhishesh Gautam, Bikash Aagri, Unmukt Chand, Ben Cutting, Tom Moores.

Pokhara Avengers: Kushal Bhurtel (Marquee Player), Sagar Dhakal, Aakash Chand, Kiran Kumar Thagunna, Narayan Joshi, Bipin Khatri, Dilip Nath, Trit Raj Das, Sunam Gautam, Dinesh Kharel, Amrit Gurung, Anderson Phillip, Bas De Leede, Andries Gous, Matt Critchley, Raymon Reifer, Michael Leask.

Sudurpaschim Royals: Dipendra Singh Airee (Marquee Player), Md Aarif Sheikh, Abinash Bohara, Binod Bhandari, Ishan Pandey, Arjun Kumal, Khadak Bahadur Bohara, Naresh Budhayer, Bhoj Raj Bhatta, Amit Shrestha, Naren Saud, Rohan Mustafa, Scott Kuggeleijn, Saif Zaib, Brandon McMullen.

Photo Credit: Imago