Chitwan Tigers lit up the contest among franchises in the Everest Premier League (EPL) by bringing in experienced Ireland opener Paul Stirling for this season which starts on December 8 at the Tribhuvan University grounds. 

Stirling, who slammed an all-important 14-ball 40 while playing for Kerala Kings in the T10 Challenge against Pakhtoons on Wednesday, is among the big names announced for EPL. Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer (Pokhara Rhinos), Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza, Irish Kevin O’Brien and Rohan Mustafa of United Arab Emirates—all three playing for Kathmandu Kings XI—are other big names associated with the tournament.

The right handed batting allrounder Stirling has played 100 One Day Internationals, 52 Twenty20 Internationals, 65 First Class and 180 List ‘A’ matches along with one Test—Ireland’s maiden Test which was played against Pakistan early this year. According to EPL regulations, each of the six franchises need to include three international recruits in their playing squad. 

“Last season was not good for us in terms of recruitment of foreign cricketers. So we thought that the team needs an experienced campaigner like Paul Stirling. His arrival will instil a renewed energy into the team and hope we can achieve our target in the tournament. We are working further to bring in two more world class cricketers,” said Tigers owner Kishore Bhattarai.

Earlier, Tigers had revealed England’s former U-19 World Cup cricketer Max Holden and New Zealand’s James Fuller as first two foreign recruits. However, Holden pulled out after he was named in England ‘A’ squad and Fuller withdrew on personal reasons. The Tigers’ squad includes national team middle order mainstay Dipendra Singh Airee as its marquee player. Former U-19 skipper Prithu Baskota, Sandeep Sunar, Bhim Sharki, Lalit Singh Bhandari, Kamal Singh Airee and Shahab Alam are other notable players. Tigers, meanwhile, has released Subash Khakurel, Sunam Gautam and Yogendra Singh Karki from the previous squad.