Nepal T20 League, the country's first ever official franchise cricket tournament, has been postponed by one day, from December 23 to December 24, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) said on Thursday.

Kathmandu Knights and Pokhara Avengers were set to vie in the tournament opener on Friday morning while Lumbini All Stars were scheduled to take on Far West United later that day at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground.

“The Nepal T20, which was scheduled to begin from December 23, 2022 has been postponed by one day and will now kick off on December 24, 2022 due to technical difficulties,” CAN said in a hasty press release on Thursday.

However, the cricket governing body did not disclose in the release what technical difficulties forced the postponement of the league. CAN also did not clarify whether the entire fixtures will be deferred by one day or only the affected fixtures will be adjusted to later dates.

CAN President Chatur Bahadur Chand said that they have already discussed the issue of rescheduling but was coy about the new fixtures. Chand also said that CAN was forced to postpone the league due to delay in the work permit of the foreign-based players.

CAN is expected to announce the new schedule on Friday.

It is the third time the Nepal T20 has been put off since its announcement in May. The league was originally scheduled to take place from September 24 to October 2.

But CAN had to reschedule the league to December 12-31 after the Ministry of Home Affairs directed it to hold Nepal T20 only after the completion of the November 20 General Elections.

CAN had then rescheduled the league again to December 23-January 10, 2023 after announcing Kathmandu Knights as the new franchise team following the withdrawal of Kathmandu Gurkhas in the dying minutes.

CAN has also appointed its General Manager Britanta Khanal as the tournament director of the Nepal T20 League.

Kathmandu Knights, Pokhara Avengers, Biratnagar Super Kings, Lumbini All Stars, Janakpur Royals and Far West United are competing in the double-round robin league which will feature over 30 overseas players.

CAN has named Indian sports management company Seven3Sports as the strategic and commercial partner of the League for eight years. Under the deal, Seven3Sports will provide CAN with a purse of around Rs330 million in the eight years period at an average of Rs41.25 million annually.