Booming Twenty20 Leagues boosting Nepali cricket

Though the governing body of Nepali cricket is in suspension, the domestic cricket has not been in a state of stagnation, thanks to the Twenty 20 Premier Leagues. The thriving Twenty20 Leagues have been keeping the cricketers not only busy sharpening their skills but also providing them with the money for their butter and bread. 

It has been more than two years that ICC has suspended the membership of Cricket Association of Nepal citing the interference of government. In the absence of the cricket body, cricket activity in the nation has almost been passive. It has been a long time that the national championship of all the formats of cricket has been organised in the nation.

Due to the lack of official national tournaments, the door for the newcomers have almost stopped and the skills of established players also have not been cross-checked. In such case, the selection of players for the national team is also affected as the selection committee has to rely on the same old faces and their performance in the international level.

In such condition, the franchised based T20 leagues have been helping to set the atmosphere of cricket in the nation. Around 15 T20 cricket leagues have been organised at the central level and local level.

Among them, Dhangadhi Premier League, Everest Premier League and Pokhara Premier League have managed to get sanctioned by ICC and also have been bringing foreign players to play in home ground. These events have also managed to lure whooping amount of money from sponsors.

Following their suit, district level leagues have been mushrooming. Those mushrooming leagues have managed to set the environment for cricket throughout the nation and helping the local stars to shine with their bat and balls.

Besides, those leagues have also drawn the attention of nation and media that there is no dearth of venues to organise a cricket in the nation. Kathmandu is not the only venue that cricket should be played at. From Dhangadhi to Pokhara, the various city has shown their capacity to host the event and have lured the cricket fans to their stadium.

The host of Dhangadhi Premier League has been working with their dream project of making international cricket ground at Phapla while Pokhara has proved themselves that it could be the world-class venue for the international cricket by organising Pokhara Premier League. The only need is to have an international level stadium in every province and district of the nation.

The fast format of the cricket has also been one of the main sources of income of national cricketers. Three years ago, CAN did a central contract with the 22 national players and started them to provide monthly remuneration.   But in the absence of CAN, players have been not receiving their wage regularly. In between, players received their payment from International Cricket Council but that too has been stopped. According to the players, it has already been 20 months that they have not received their paycheck as per their contract.

Few players may have managed to get money from commercial endorsement but most of the players are without earnings. And the T20 leagues have come up with relief to those players without earnings. The franchised based T20 leagues have been buying the players dividing them into capped senior, capped age level and uncapped categories. The cost of the players of those three categories range not exceeding from Rs. 250 thousand to Rs. 50 thousand.

But the events organised without minimum standard will certainly have repercussion on the development of cricket. We cannot also expect much from those tournaments which only focus on to earn the quick bucks luring the sponsors and sans the facilities for the players.

Moreover, the main priority must be given to organising the one day cricket and first-class cricket in the nation. Organisers of those T20 leagues, who have shown their capability to lure huge sum of money, must also convince the sponsors to host the long format cricket.

As the goal of Nepali cricket is to get the Test status, we should be focusing on bolstering the One Day status we achieved from the hard work of our players. Playing T20 will not develop the skills, tactics and nerves to play one day format. So the more players get engaged themselves in the 50 over domestic cricket, the more Nepal will improve at the One Day International matches. In this regard, the National Sports Council, governing sports body of Nepal, should also take the initiative to hold the one-day national championship.