PM Cup inaugural match to be played in Mulpani lower ground

Published On: May 19, 2019 09:05 AM NPT


KATHMANDU, May 19: Nepalaya International Pvt Ltd has announced the new schedule for the third edition of the inter-provincial Prime Minister (PM) Cup along with the fixtures and prize money amid a function in Kathmandu on Saturday.

The opening day of the PM Cup has been further postponed for May 24. The 50-over cricket competition has been shortened to 15 days and will conclude on June 8. Earlier, the starting date of the provincial tournament was first postponed for May 22 despite the original plan to organize it from May 15 to June 8.

In the new development, Mulpani’s lower cricket ground is set to host its first ever official cricket match. The departmental team Nepal Police Club will face Province 1 in the inaugural Group B match on the first day of the tournament. The boundaries have been reduced to 55 meters due to the long pending land dispute in the ground. 

National cricket team captain Paras Khadka expressed satisfaction that Mulpani is finally going to host a match which in itself is a positive development toward its completion. “It’s been 12-13 years since we have been hearing about Mulpani Cricket Ground becoming an alternative to our only international standard TU (Tribhuvan University) Cricket Ground.” 

Khadka and Vice-captain Gyanendra Malla will play for Province 3 in the tournament. 

Similarly, Member Secretary of the Nepal Sports Council (NSC) Keshav Kumar Bista echoed Khadka saying that the hosting of matches in itself is a progressive development. “We will need experts to know how the pitch or ground conditions will behave. For that, we need to have matches in the venue which we will observe in few days.”

Similarly, TU Cricket Ground will host its inaugural PM Cup match between the other departmental team Tribhuvan Army Club and Province 2 on the same day. Karnali Province is the fifth team of the group. 

Likewise, the third departmental team Armed Police Force, Province 5, Province 3, Sudur Paschim Province and Gandaki Province comprise Group A. 

The chairman of Nepalaya international, the organizing body, Subash Chandra Pradhan, stressed on the importance of 50-over matches in a country which won a One-Day International (ODI) status last year. 

“We do not have quality one-day cricket event in the country. We have taken the mettle to organize a quality longer version event in association with the council [NSC],” Pradhan said. He said that the lower ground of Mulpani will be prepared on time with adequate measures to host its first match as scheduled. “PM Cup is going to be one of the biggest events in Nepal,’’ he added. 

PM Cup also announced the Expert Education and Visa Services as its title sponsor for the event. Nepalaya had agreed to arrange Rs 9.5 million for the event which has a total budget of Rs 17.5 million. NSC will invest the remaining Rs 8 million. 

Similarly, the cash prize of Rs 2 million has been announced for the winner of the tournament followed by Rs 1 million for the runner-up. Likewise, the player of the tournament will receive a motorbike whereas the best bowler and the best batsman will receive Rs 50,000 each. 

A total of 10 teams will participate in the Nepal’s biggest 50-over event which was won by APF in the second edition whereas Army and Police shared the honors during its inaugural edition.
Also, on the same occasion, Nepalaya unveiled the official jerseys for each participating team.
 


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