Nepal Premier League (NPL): Teams, Owners, Captains & Winners

The Nepal Premier League (NPL) is Nepal's flagship franchise Twenty20 (T20) cricket tournament. It is owned, organised and run by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), the country's national cricket governing body, which handles the league's scheduling, player draft, commercial rights and match operations. The inaugural season was held in 2024 (2081 Bikram Sambat), making the NPL Nepal's first fully franchise-based professional cricket league.

The league launched on the back of a surge in interest in Nepali cricket, particularly after the men's national team qualified for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. The NPL was designed to give Nepal's domestic and international players a high-profile, sponsor-backed platform at home, sitting alongside the older Everest Premier League as a marquee event on the calendar. Both the 2024 and 2025 editions were titled 'Siddhartha Bank NPL' for the tournament's title sponsor.

Eight teams contest the NPL, each representing a major Nepali city or province: Biratnagar, Chitwan, Janakpur, Karnali, Kathmandu, Lumbini, Pokhara and Sudur Paschim. Every match in the first two seasons was played at a single central venue, the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground (TUICG) in Kirtipur, near Kathmandu, so 'home' identity is regional and commercial rather than a separate home stadium for each franchise.

The NPL uses a 20-overs-per-side T20 format. In both the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the eight teams played a single round-robin league stage followed by a four-match playoff, for 32 matches in total. The playoff uses the standard format of Qualifier 1, an Eliminator, Qualifier 2 and the Final, giving the top-placed league sides a second chance to reach the final.

Franchises were sold to private owners through a one-off franchise auction, with a base price of NPR 1 crore (10 million rupees) per team. Building each squad then combines a marquee-player allocation with a player draft. Each team is assigned one designated marquee player — typically a leading Nepali international — with these marquee slots fixed across a multi-year cycle to protect competitive balance, while the rest of the squad is filled through the draft and retentions.

Squad rules cap the number of players and foreign signings a team may field. For the 2025 season, CAN set a squad limit of 16 players with a maximum of six overseas players, and each franchise had an auction purse reported at around NPR 90 lakh (9 million rupees) to assemble its supporting cast around the marquee player. These caps aim to spread talent and keep the league financially sustainable in its early years.

The NPL's eight teams were sold at a franchise auction held on 5 September 2024, which raised a combined total of roughly NPR 15.9 crore (about 168.9 million rupees, close to US$1.1 million). The Pokhara franchise fetched the highest bid at about NPR 3.57 crore, followed by Kathmandu at about NPR 3.33 crore; the Karnali franchise drew the lowest winning bid at about NPR 1.12 crore.

Each franchise pairs a Nepali marquee player with an overseas icon signing and a head coach. In the inaugural season most teams named their marquee Nepali international as captain — for example Sandeep Lamichhane at Biratnagar, Kushal Malla at Chitwan, Sompal Kami at Karnali, Karan KC at Kathmandu, Rohit Paudel at Lumbini, Kushal Bhurtel at Pokhara and Dipendra Singh Airee at Sudur Paschim. Janakpur Bolts were the exception, appointing Anil Sah as captain with wicketkeeper-batter Aasif Sheikh as their marquee player.

The per-team summaries below use the inaugural 2024 season for owner, marquee player, captain and result, as that is the founding line-up for each franchise. Note that captaincy and overseas signings can change season to season; the marquee Nepali player allocation is the most durable identifier for each team.

Kathmandu Gurkhas represent the capital and are one of the league's most-searched sides, backed by Kantipur Publications — one of Nepal's largest media houses — which paid the second-highest franchise bid of about NPR 3.33 crore. Their inaugural squad was led by all-rounder Karan KC as marquee and captain, with England-born wicketkeeper-batter Stephen Eskinazi as the overseas icon. In the 2024 season the Gurkhas reached the playoffs but did not win the title.

Janakpur Bolts, owned by Dreams Sports and representing the Madhesh region, became the league's first champions. Captained by Anil Sah with Aasif Sheikh as marquee player and James Neesham as overseas icon, the Bolts beat Sudur Paschim Royals by 5 wickets in the 2024 final. Sri Lankan opener Lahiru Milantha, who top-scored the tournament with 293 runs, hit 87 in the final to seal the chase.

Biratnagar Kings (owned by M.A.D Dreams Sports) carry star leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane as marquee and captain, with 2015 World Cup opener Martin Guptill as icon. Chitwan Rhinos (Chitwan Medical College) are led by record-breaking all-rounder Kushal Malla, with England's Ravi Bopara as icon. These central and eastern franchises anchor some of the country's biggest cricket markets.

Karnali Yaks, owned by Himalayan Builders and representing Nepal's far-northwestern Karnali Province, drew the lowest franchise bid at about NPR 1.12 crore. Their inaugural side was captained by pace-bowling all-rounder Sompal Kami, with India's Shikhar Dhawan signed as the marquee overseas draw — one of the biggest names the league attracted in its first year.

Lumbini Lions, owned by Fortuna Health Care and led by national captain Rohit Paudel, became the NPL's second champions. After finishing fourth in the 2025 league stage, the Lions won the Eliminator, Qualifier 2 and then the final, beating Sudur Paschim Royals by 6 wickets on 13 December 2025 — bowling the Royals out for just 85. South African quick Ruben Trumpelmann was named Player of the Series.

Pokhara Avengers, owned by Nepal T20 Pvt. Ltd., attracted the highest franchise bid (about NPR 3.57 crore) and are captained by opener Kushal Bhurtel. Sudur Paschim Royals, owned by Empire Sports and led by all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, have been the league's nearly-men: runners-up in both 2024 and 2025, losing the final on each occasion.

Two seasons of the NPL had been completed by the end of 2025. Janakpur Bolts won the inaugural 2024 title, and Lumbini Lions won the 2025 title. Sudur Paschim Royals reached both finals and lost both, the only side to appear in a final without lifting the trophy in the league's first two years.

The 2024 season ran from 30 November to 21 December 2024 (2081 BS). Lahiru Milantha (Janakpur) was the leading run-scorer with 293 runs, while Scott Kuggeleijn (Sudur Paschim) and Lalit Rajbanshi shared the most wickets with 17 each; Saif Zaib of Sudur Paschim Royals was named Player of the Tournament. The 2025 season ran from 17 November to 13 December 2025, with Adam Rossington (Pokhara) scoring the most runs (323) and Ruben Trumpelmann taking the Player of the Series award.

Because the NPL is a young league, records and captaincy shift quickly. For the most current squads, playoff standings and stat leaders each November-December window, cross-check the ESPNcricinfo NPL series page and the Cricket Association of Nepal alongside this reference hub.