Kathmandu, May 22

The first Prime Minister Cup One-day National Men’s Cricket Tournament will kick off at the Tribhuvan University Stadium on Tuesday with Tribhuvan Army Club taking on Eastern Development Region in the inaugural match.

A total of eight teams are taking part in the event — the highest cash prize tournament in the history of domestic cricket tournament. The top two teams will take home two million rupees and one million rupees respectively.

Nepal APF Club, Central Development Region, Mid-western Development Region and Western Development Region have been pitted in Group A, while TAC, Nepal Police Club, Eastern Development Region and Far-western Development Region are in Group B. The tournament will be played under league-cum-knockout format with the top two teams from both groups advancing to the semi-finals. The final is slated for June 7.

Tournament’s technical committee chief as well as Nepali national cricket team’s head coach Jagat Tamatta, said all sorts of preparations for the tournament were completed. Kathmandu Cricket Training Centre, run by national cricket team vice-captain Gyanendra Malla, has taken the responsibly of the management aspect of the tournament which is organised by National Sports Council, under the sponsorship of Ruslan Cricket.

“We have arranged accommodation and travel facilities for the participating teams,” said Tamatta, who termed the tournament as one of the most significant for the ICC World Cricket League Championship’s matches against Hong Kong to be played in October. “This is one of the biggest domestic cricket tournaments as it will be a part of preparation and selection event for the WCL and will also provide platform to the new players,” said Tamatta at a press meet.

Chief coach at the NSC, Tamatta accepted that they had a short time period to organise selection competitions for the tournament. “As monsoon is about to start, we decided not to organise the selection tournament and the regional teams selected their players based on the seventh National Games as well as other international competitions. We have also picked up a couple of new players,” said Tamatta.

The two losing semi-finalists will get Rs 50,000 each, while the teams will receive Rs 25,000 as a bonus for each win in league round. Likewise, the best player of the tournament will earn Rs 100,000 whereas the best batsman and the best bowler will get Rs 50,000 apiece. The emerging player of the event will be awarded with Rs 25,000 and the man-of-the-match will get Rs 5,000.

Meanwhile, skippers of the participating teams said they were excited for the tournament which is being organised after a long time. “I am excited about the tournament and we need more number of such events as new players will get opportunity to showcase their talents,” said Far-west captain Surendra Chand.

Similarly, Central Region skipper Sharad Vesawkar said the tournament could be taken as the positive sign given the craze of cricket in the country. “I am happy as the tournament is being organised after a long gap. The event shows the craze of the game in the country,” said Vesawkar, who claimed that his side would emerge as victorious.

Gyanendra Malla, who will lead APF Club in the absence of skipper Paras Khadka, said 50-over matches will be key in the development of cricket. “The cash prize shows that Nepali cricket is stepping towards professionalism where cricketers can survive by playing domestic tournaments,” said Malla.