Cricket
NPL teams intensify foreign players’ signings for second season
Kathmandu Gorkhas and Karnali Yaks reveal the signing of Ricardo Vasconcelos and Max O’Dowd, respectively, on Monday.Post Report
On September 5, Nepali cricket fans were left in awe when Sudurpaschim Royals revealed the signing of Christopher Austin Lynn, the Australian powerhitter commonly known as Chris Lynn.
Lynn has played for the Australian senior team in 18 T20Is and four ODIs, scoring 291 runs and 75 runs in total, respectively. In 296 T20s across leagues like the Indian Premier League, Caribbean Premier League, Champions League, Pakistan Super League and Big Bash League, among others, Lynn has 8,526 runs in 288 innings.
Days after Lynn’s signing, Nepal was rocked by youth-led demonstrations on September 8 and 9, which toppled the government and installed a new interim dispensation. The signings of foreign players stopped.
It was only on October 11 that the signings for the second season of the Nepal Premier League started being revealed once again. Biratnagar Kings broke the deadlock revealing the Scottish George Munsey.
Five days later, on October 16, Lumbini Lions made public the signing of Australian D'Arcy Short. Another Aussie Sam Heazlett's arrival to Nepal was revealed on October 18 by Biratnagar Kings.
On October 21, Chitwan Rhinos, during the NPL trophy tour in their city, revealed three foreign players at the same time. The Rhinos informed that they retained two experienced players—Pakistani pacer Sohail Tanvir and English all-rounder Ravi Bopara—and signed a new face: Dawid Malan from England.
Malan's signing was highly appreciated as the left-handed all-rounder has represented the England national team in all three formats—T20Is (62 matches), ODIs (30 matches) and Tests (22 matches). He has 13,593 runs in 217 First-Class matches and 10,501 runs in 384 T20s.
Pokhara Avengers, on October 23, stated that they had roped in England's Adam Rossington as their first foreign signing.
Similarly, Karnali's second signing, revealed on October 24, was Australia's Will Bosisto, while the third was Max O'Dowd, the Dutch hard-hitter, on Monday.
Alongside Bosisto's signing, two other foreign players were retained for the second season of the NPL on October 24. Defending champions Janakpur Bolts retained NPL Season 1's MVP Lahiru Milantha, and runner-up Sudurpaschim retained their highest wickettaker Scott Kuggeleijn.
On Monday, Kathmandu Gorkhas revealed the signing of South African Ricardo Vasconcelos, the first foreign signing for the team. The signing of Vasconcelos, a left-handed wicket keeper-batsman, was announced on the occasion of his birthday. He is currently active in the domestic scene of English cricket.
The second season of the NPL begins on November 17.




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