KATHMANDU, Sept 24: The second season of Nepal’s franchise T20 league Pokhara Premier League is set to be held in November, confirmed the organizing body Queens Event Management through a press release issued Monday.
The third premier league of Nepal will run for 12 days, from November 11 to 23, in its second edition being held at the Pokhara Cricket Ground in Pokhara Stadium, Pokhara.
Chhumbi Lama, the managing director of the league, stressed on the importance of sports tourism, stating that the league has helped attract foreign players and visitors in Nepal’s tourist city Pokhara.
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“We want to contribute to sports tourism as well as to the development of Nepal’s cricket through franchise cricket league in this region,” the official release quoted Lama as saying.
The league will include the same six teams which participated in the first edition which was won by Sharad Vesawkar-led Pokhara Paltans, who defeated Paras Khadka-led Chitwan Rhinos in the final match. The other four teams are Sompal Kami-led Butwal Blasters, new vice-captain of national cricket team Dipendra Singh Airee-led Dhangadhi Blues, Nepali globe-trotter Sandeep Lamichhane-led Biratnagar Titans, and Gyanendra Malla-led Kathmandu Royals.
The current head coach of Nepal Umesh Patwal served as the tournament director in the first season whereas current U-19 head coach Binod Das was the head coach of tournament-winning team Paltan.
The Somerset legend Peter Trego and current Vitality T20 Blast, English premier T20 competition, champion Daniel Lawrence represented Blues in the last edition. Similarly, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) duo Rohan Mustafa and Chirag Suri featured for Blasters.
Likewise, UAE current captain Muhammad Naveed won the tournament with the Paltans making the event popular among the Nepali and international fans.
