The best 14 U-19 cricketers of the ongoing Dhangadhi Premier League (DPL) will get opportunities to play six matches in Cape Town, South Africa, for two weeks under the initiation of Dhangadhi Cricket Academy (DCA) and Sports Ed.   

The 14 players’ team, to be named DPL Emerging Stars, will travel in October to play one-day matches and possibly two-day cricket as well, informed Ryan Moran, the coach of the CYC Attariya. Moran is the former batting coach of Afghanistan while Jonty Rhodes is the team mentor.

Moran and Rhodes, who is also the goodwill ambassador of the DPL, will be responsible to select the 14-member team which will be announced a day after the DPL final. The duo will take the team to South Africa after selecting  a 14-member team a day after the DPL final on Saturday.

“We will not look just into statistics but will take into consideration all aspects of the game while selected the players,” said Rhodes on Tuesday.

DCA President Subash Bahadur Shahi estimated the costs of the youth team’s tour of South Africa at Rs 4 million. “None of the selected players will have to pay a penny for the South Africa tour. We will manage it on our own through sponsors,” said the DCA president. “As discussed with Rhodes, we have initiated the process in our attempt not to limit the DPL to just 15 days of cricket. Such tours and exposure in very important for the upcoming players,” added Shahi.

Abhishek KC of Sports Ed said they have all along focused on youth cricket and the South Africa tour was part of their effort. Sports Ed has 33 percent stake at the CYC Attariya franchise.