Kathmandu, January 4

Dhangadhi Cricket Academy today postponed the second edition of the Ruslan Dhangadhi Premier League citing the unavailability of the national team members.

“We had decided to organise the tournament from January 19 but we were forced to postpone the event because the national team will be busy in preparation and international tournament during that period,” said DCA President Subash Shahi at a press meet. The tournament will now be held from March 31 to April 14.

The national team is scheduled to participate in the ICC World Cricket League Division-II tournament in Namibia from February 6-16. “We believe that Nepal will earn berth in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers from Namibia and the team will then take part in the Qualifiers in March. We have scheduled our event after the national team’s tour,” added Shahi.

Meanwhile, DCA President Shahi and eSewa CEO Asgar Ali signed the agreement for match tickets and players’ registration for auction. National team vice-captain Gyanendra Malla opened the registration by signing up his name for the auction which closes on February 8.

The DCA has divided the players into five categories. The national team members with at least 15 international matches or those representing nation for the last three years are in Grade A, while the remaining national players, age-group cricketers and those making it to the national team camps are in Grade B. The uncapped players are in Grade C, while local players to be selected through talent hunt will be placed in Grade D, while overseas players are in Grade E.

Each team should have at least three players from Grade A, two overseas cricketers and one local player in the 15-member squad. “We will sit down with Cricket Players Association of Nepal and finalise the base amount of the players and other details regarding the auction,” said Shahi. “The participating teams and their Strategic players will be announced before the auction.”

A total of six city-based franchise teams will participate in the DPL. The winners of the tournament will get Rs 2.5 million, the highest cash purse in domestic cricket. The runners-up will take home one million rupees, while teams finishing third and fourth will get Rs 300,000 and Rs 200,000 respectively. The best player of the tournament will get TVS Apache bike, while the player-of-the-match will receive Rs 10,000. The estimated budget of the event is Rs 30 million.

The DCA will also honour two individuals — former cricketer with the Dhangadhi Cricket Award and an individual involved in the development of the game with the Arjun Khadka Memorial Award. The awards carry cash purse of Rs 100,000 each.