Four of the eight franchises of the Nepal Premier League have opted to train in different parts of India. The reason: the shortage of proper training facilities within the country.

Defending champion Janakpur Bolts, Biratnagar Kings, Chitwan Rhinos and Pokhara Avengers have their available players training across different academies and institutes in India, which has a vibrant cricketing environment.

None of the foreign signings of the eight franchises have landed in Nepal yet, while the national players are still in Dubai, waiting for their last match of the ICC CWC League 2 tri-series against the UAE on November 5.

The first team to reach India was the defending champion. Janakpur Bolts started their training at the Super Kings Academy, a state-of-the-art facility of the five-time Indian Premier League winners Chennai Super Kings, in Coimbatore.

The Bolts were slated to train at the academy’s FE Sports Zone from October 10 to November 1. As per FE Sports Zone’s Facebook post on October 25, players from the Super Kings Academy played a practice match with Janakpur Bolts.

Meanwhile, Biratnagar Kings are training at Mumbai’s Omtex ICWC Cricket Institute. The Kings, with seven players, headed for the institute on October 29.

“The institute has world-class training grounds—both indoor and outdoor,” Lakpa Lama, Biratnagar Kings’ assistant coach, told the Post over a phone call from Mumbai on Monday. “There are also good gyms, swimming pools and other infrastructures required for proper training. We are also provided with doctors and physios.”

Lama also informed that the national women’s team of Thailand and Zimbabwe’s U19 team were also training at the institute. “It shows how much of a great facility we are at,” Lama added.

According to Lama, the need to travel to Mumbai was a result of the lack of proper facilities within Nepal. “We are also training under the floodlights, which were unavailable for us in Nepal,” he said.

There is only one cricket ground in Nepal with floodlights, and it is Extratech Oval of Butwal, a stadium being prepared under the private investment of Binod Kunwar. The ground has been occupied as Lumbini Lions are using it after signing an agreement on October 26 to utilise it as their home turf.

Chitwan Rhinos also headed for New Delhi on October 27. Since their arrival in India, the Rhinos have intensified their training—from learning new things from Shivam Singh, an IPL player, to playing a practice match with Croire 11.

Likewise, Pokhara Avengers, who were training at the Pokhara Cricket Stadium, also recently headed for Gurgaon.

“As the second season of the NPL is said to be organised under the floodlights, we needed our local players to experience it,” Subodh Tripathee, chairman of the Avengers, told the Post. “We do not have such facilities in the country, so we had to travel to India.”

It, however, is still uncertain if the second season of the NPL will be played under the floodlights.

During the newly-appointed Minister for Youth and Sports Bablu Gupta’s inspection of the TU International Cricket Ground, the venue for the tournament, on Saturday, Chhumbi Lama, spokesperson for the Cricket Association of Nepal, could not assure whether the NPL would be played at night.

“The installation of floodlights is underway,” Lama told journalists. “We will be able to organise night matches if everything goes right and there are no technical problems.”

Only two weeks remain for the second season to commence. The floodlights need to be installed, checked and sanctioned at least a week before the tournament begins because the CAN is yet to reveal the fixtures as well.

On the other hand, some NPL franchises are struggling for proper training grounds in the country.

Sudurpaschim Royals, the runner-up of the last edition, are training at the Kathmandu Cricket Academy, which lacks enough space for outdoor training and does not have lights for practising at dark.

Similarly, Karnali Yaks, who do not have training facilities in their province, were provided Upper Mulpani Ground in Kathmandu for training. Lower Mulpani is currently reserved for the Nepal Street Premier League, a tournament discarded by CAN, while sanctioned by the National Sports Council, the owner of the Mulpani grounds.

Kathmandu Gorkhas, on the other hand, were training at Rupandehi’s Siddhartha Stadium. They also played a practice match with Rupandehi XI under the lights at Extratech Oval, but are now back in Kathmandu, forced to train only under the sun, that too in narrow spaces.

Within a few days, Upper Mulpani will be used by Kathmandu Gorkhas for their talent hunt, while Karnali will return for training after completing their talent hunt in Surkhet. Other teams are also expected to be in Kathmandu by November 7-8.

After that, it’s certain that the CAN will face a real headache to provide training grounds for all eight franchises.

“The craze for cricket is growing exponentially in Nepal, but there are shortcomings,” Lama, the Biratnagar Kings assistant coach, said. “It is not only about training facilities. The country lacks experienced staff in the sport as well.”