The Cricket Association of Nepal has increased the monthly salaries of players under central contract for 2026. Players have been graded into five categories and will earn between Rs25,000 and Rs150,000 per month.

Compared to the central contract in the previous year, one category, A+, has been added this time, albeit only for the men’s team.

Skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel, vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee and experienced leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane have been placed in A+ category and will earn Rs150,000 monthly.

Previously, the highest category for a male player was ‘A’ and they were given Rs100,000 monthly.

For 2026, there are four men’s and women’s players each in A category. Meanwhile, the women’s players in A category will only get Rs55,000 per month while the men’s will get Rs100,000.

Included in the A category are Sompal Kami, Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel and Karan KC from the men’s team, and Indu Barma, Puja Mahato, Rubina Chhetri and Sita Rana Magar from the women’s.

Male players in category B are getting Rs75,000 per month and female players Rs40,000 per month. Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Aarif Sheikh, Bhim Sharki, Nandan Yadav and Gulshan Kumar Jha are in category B. Female players in the category are Kabita Kunwar, Samjhana Khadka and Manisha Upadhyaya.

There are 11 male players in C category, where a male player is earning Rs55,000 per month and a female player is earning Rs30,000. The players include Sundeep Jora, Arjun Kumal, Kushal Malla, Sher Malla, Ishan Pandey, Basir Ahmad, Lokesh Bam, Shahab Alam, Hemant Dhami, Binod Bhandari and Anil Kumar Sah. Bindu Rawal, Kabita Joshi, Rubi Poddar and Riya Sharma are the female players in C category.

In order to motivate emerging talents, CAN has listed 15 male players and 14 female players in D Category, also known as the Development Category. Male cricketers in D category are getting Rs35,000 per month and female cricketers Rs25,000 per month.

Trit Raj Das, Rashid Khan, Santosh Yadav, Narayan Joshi, Bipin Khatri, Rijan Dhakal, Yuvraj Khatri, Dev Khanal, Pawan Sarraf, Aakash Chand, Deepak Dumre, Arjun Gharti, Arjun Saud, Pratish GC and Sagar Dhakal are in D category.

Female players in the Development Category are Roma Thapa, Suman Bist, Ishwori Bist, Sony Pakhrin, Sana Praveen, Sabitri Dhami, Kajal Shrestha, Seemana KC, Anu Kadayat, Yashoda Bist, Laxmi Saud, Mamta Chaudhary, Ashmina Karmacharya and Rachana Chaudhary.

Moreover, both male and female players will get an extra match fee of Rs10,000 for T20Is and Rs15,000 for ODIs.