The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) on Wednesday formally announced that the country's first ever official franchise cricket league Nepal T20 will take place from September 24 to October 22 but in the midst of Dashain festival.

Despite the announcement made by the cricket governing body, the tournament is not likely to take place on the stipulated date as Dashain, the most celebrated festival in the country, starts on September 26 and finishes on October 9.

The CAN announced that the first edition of the game will have six teams and will be played in double round robin format at the TU cricket ground in Kirtipur. CAN also informed that they have roped in Seven3Sports, an Indian sports management company, as commercial and strategic partner for eight years.

"As we need expertise to make the event a success, we have joined hands with the company as our partner. We will have sole ownership of the event," said CAN acting secretary Prashant Bikram Malla at a press conference. According to Malla, the company will provide CAN with a purse of around Rs330 million in the eight years period at an average of Rs41.25 million annually.

The players to be classified in three categories will have base price of Rs1.5 million, Rs1 million and Rs500,00. "The 'C' grade players will earn minimum purse of Rs500,000 and the players as well as the cricket governing body will be benefited financially," said CAN president Chatur Bahadur Chand.

He also added that there won't be any similar type of franchise league in the country, pouring cold water on EPL Private Limited's announcement that they were planning to hold the coming edition of the annual franchise based Everest Premier League in November.

"International Cricket Council (ICC) does not recognise more than one official franchise league in a country. CAN will also not sanction any such event in the same model. In the yesteryears, ICC sanctioned three franchise leagues due to CAN suspension by taking fees. But the situation is different now," said Chand.

Stating the reason for choosing the Indian company as their partner, Chand said: "We also approached many Nepali companies after there were questions why we chose the Indian company. But none of them offered even Rs10 million for one edition."

Chand also recalled that they had promised Nepal's official T20 league after they were elected to lead CAN in September 2019. "But we were unable to fulfil our promise in the first two years because of Covid-19 pandemic."

As per the agreement with Seven3Sports, the cricket governing body has also taken permission from the concerned authorities including the bodies of the Government of Nepal.

Minister for Youth and Sports Maheshwar Jung Gahatraj said that Nepali cricket will take a new course with the league. "The event will provide domestic players a platform to rub shoulders with renowned international stars and will give them a much needed exposure," said Gahatraj.

National cricket captain Sandeep Lamichhane said that he is excited about the first official T20 cricket tournament of the country. "The event will help players to groom their professional skills and give a much needed experience,” Lamichhane said.

The announcement ceremony was also attended by Jatin Ahluwalia, the managing director of Seven3Sports, who refuted that they were a betting company as stated in some media reports in India and Nepal. "We are a legally registered company in India. Similar to Nepal, betting is a crime in India. Someone took a screenshot of the company website and manipulated the information. We have filed a FIR at Police and will take legal action against them," said Ahluwalia.

He further added that they were a team of professionals with ability to modernise games with new technologies and expert knowledge.