The 4th edition of Everest Premier League (EPL 2021), Nepal’s first sports league and the biggest sporting event, will be held from Saturday (September 25) to October 9 and the tournament will see the participation of some reputed international players like Tamim Iqbal, Shahid Afridi, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Richard Levi, Sekkuge Prasanna etc.
The new season will take place in Kathmandu, with all 19 matches to be played at TU Cricket Stadium, Kirtipur.
The star-studded line-ups feature some of the world’s best cricketing talent from over 10 countries across 6 franchises including Dhammika Prasad, Dinesh Chandimal, and Upul Tharanga from Sri Lanka, West Indies fast bowler Kesrick Williams, and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad among others.
Squads
Bhairahawa Gladiators – Aarif Sheikh, Pradeep Airee, Rohit Paudel, Sharad Vesawkar (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Harishankar Shah, Krishna Karki, Kushal Malla, Sharvin Muniandy, Himanshu Dutta (wicket-keeper), Upul Tharanga (WK), Abinash Bohara, Bhuvan Karki, Bikash Aagri, Dhammika Prasad, Dipesh Shrestha, Durgesh Gupta, Mousom Dhakal, Tul Bahadur Thapa
Chitwan Tigers – Aadil Khan, Bhim Sharki, Dev Khanal, Hasim Ansari,Ishan Pandey, Khadak Bohara, Virandeep Singh, Danish Aziz, Karim Janat, Rajesh Pulami, Sandeep Sunar, Seekkuge Prasanna, Dilip Nath, Mohammad Shahzad (wicket-keeper), Gautam KC, Kamal Singh, Krijan Gurung, Lalit Bhandari, Sagar Dhakal, Shahab Alam, Sompal Kami (captain)
Kathmandu Kings XI – Amit Shrestha, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gulshan Jha, Ryan Burl, Siddhant Lohani, Amar Routela, Janak Prakash, Shahid Afridi, Sher Malla, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Raju Rijal, Subash Khakurel, Akash Chand, Amrit Bhattarai, Dipendra Rawat, Jitendra Mukhiya, Samshad Sheikh, Sandeep Lamichhane (captain), Corey Anderson, Kevin O’Brien.
Biratnagar Warriors – Chandrapaul Hemraj, Hari Chauhan, Sandeep Rajali, Saurav Khanal, Sumit Maharjan, Dilshan Munaweera, Karan KC, Paras Khadka (captain), Rayyan Pathan, Sikandar Raza, Aasif Sheik, Anil Sah (wicket-keeper), Anil Kharel, Anuj Chunara, Bikram Bhusal, Pratish GC, Ramnaresh Giri, Santosh Yadav, Sonu Devkota
Pokhara Rhinos – Arjun Kumal, Lokesh Bam, Richard Levi, Rit Gautam, Sunil Dhamala, Asela Gunaratne, Bibek Yadav, Nandan Yadav, Prithu Baskota, Rabindra Shahi, Sahan Arachchige, Binod Bhandari (captain & wicket-keeper), Bipin Rawal, Bikram Sob, Bipin Khatri, Dev Shah, Kesrick Williams, Kishore Mahato, Sushan Bhari,
Lalitpur Patriots – Alex Blake, Bibhatsu Thapa, Gyanendra Malla (captain), Kushal Bhurtel, Oshada Fernando, Ranjung Dorji, Shankar Rana, Sonu Tamang, Sundeep Jora, Ariyo Poudel, Narayan Joshi, Pawan Sarraf, Rashid Khan, Yogendra Singh Karki, Sandun Weerakkody (wicket-keeper), Azmatullah Omarzai, Kamal Khatri, Lalit Rajbanshi, Nagraj Singh, Rijan Dhakal, Surya Tamang.
Everest Premier League schedule (all time in IST)
Saturday, September 25: Kathmandu Kings XI vs Lalitpur Patriots (12 PM)
Sunday, September 26: Biratnaga Warrios vs Chitwan Tigers (9.15 AM),
Bhairahawa Gladiators vs Pokhara Rhinos (1 PM)
Monday, September 27: Kathmandu Kings XI vs Biratnagar Warriors (9.15 AM)
Chitwan Tigers vs Bhairahawa Gladiators (1.15 PM)
Tuesday, September 28: Pokhara Rhinos vs Kathmandu Kings XI (12 PM)
Wednesday, September 29: Lalitpur Patriots vs Pokhara Rhinos (9.15 AM)
Bhairahawa Gladiators vs Biratnagar Warriors (1.15 PM)
Thursday, September 30: Chitwan Tigers vs Kathmandu Kings XI (1.30pm)
Friday, October 1: Biratnagar Warriors vs Lalitpur Patriots (9.15 AM)
Pokhara Rhinos vs Chitwan Tigers (1.15 PM)
Saturday, October 2: Kathmandu Kings XI vs Bhairahawa Gladiators (9.15 AM)
Biratnagar Warriors vs Pokhara Rhinos (1.15 PM)
Sunday, October 3: Lalitpur Patriots vs Chitwan Tigers (12 PM)
Monday, October 4: Bhairahawa Gladiators vs Lalitpur Patriots (12 PM)
Tuesday, October 5: Qualifier 1 – 1st vs 2nd (12 PM)
Wednesday, October 6: Eliminator – 3rd vs 4th (12 PM)
Thursday, October 7: Qualifier 2 – Loser Qualifier 1 vs Winner Eliminator (12 PM)
Saturday, October 9: Final (12 PM).