KATHMANDU, JULY 12

The International Cricket Council has authorised the NepalT20, the first and only official Twenty20 cricket league to be organised by Cricket Association of Nepal.

"This is very significant development and with this (approval from ICC) Nepal now joins ranks with top international T20 cricket league," said CAN in a release on Tuesday.

The first edition of the tournament is slated for September 24 to October 22 in Kathmandu.

"NepalT20 is a dream project of CAN and reflects the aspiration of every cricket fan of Nepal. CAN has put a special emphasis to benefit the Nepali domestic cricket players as key motivation behind NepalT20," the release added.

The CAN has already signed Seven3Sports Private Limited as Strategic and Commercial Partner for the NepalT20 and formed a governing council to regulate the league. "This is yet another major milestone and achievement of the excellent work undertaken by CAN," the cricket governing body said. "Last month, the ICC had removed the financial sanction from Nepal and also complimented CAN's top governance in running and promoting cricket in the country," it added.

The inaugural edition of the official premier league of the country will have six city-based franchise teams and they will play in home and away format at the TU Stadium.

The players will be categorised in three grades - A, B and C. The players in A grade will get Rs 1.5 million, while the cricketers in B grade will earn one million rupees. Likewise, the players in Grade C will get Rs 500,000.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 13, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.