KATHMANDU, Jan 2: Nepal’s most lucrative franchise T20 league Everest Premier League (EPL) has underlined the exclusivity of foreign players to be involved in the league to freshen up the things for the upcoming season of league to be held in Kathmandu.
A new schedule was announced after the previous schedule contradicted with the ACC Asia Cup fixture. EPL will be hosted from March 14 to 28, postponed two weeks from the previous dates. The new dates were approved by now functional Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and have been forwarded to International Cricket Council (ICC) for final approval.
As announced by EPL on Thursday, all the foreign players who have played for other T20 leagues of Nepal from EPL season 2018 to 2020 will not be allowed to participate in the apex T20 league. Likewise, a NOC (No-objection Certificate) will be mandatory for the foreign players from their respective state or national boards.
Similarly, Category-A players are up for trade for the upcoming season of premier T20 league. Top 18 Nepali players can be bought or sold with a base price of Rs 200,000 as undermined by the EPL technical committee. Any price above the aforementioned base price will be divided between the player and the selling franchise. 60 percent of the amount will go to player and 40 percent will be allocated to the franchise. The players are prohibited from interfering in the amount he is bought/sold. Players like Paras Khadka, Sandeep Lamichhane, Gyanendra Malla, Sompal Kami, Dipendra Singh Airee, and other 13 players are available for the transfer. The window for buy/sell has been scheduled for seven days from January 2 to 9.
Player trade will remain optional. Each team can sell/ buy amaximum of two players. The sold players from the franchise do not necessarily have to be replaced by ‘Category A Player’ and can be replaced via players from the release list which will be available after the transfer window is completed. The EPL has decided to keep the amount of the player confidential. The buying of the player is limited for this season only. Apart from this the players release modality for the players not in Category A is the same as last year.
The President of CAN Chatur Bahadur Chand extended his solidarity with the league. He commended that the premier league has helped Nepali cricket grow in terms of international exposure. 
“EPL has been a great asset for Nepali cricket. We wish EPL great success in the coming season and we are fully committed to supporting EPL in all necessary aspects,” stated Chand in the official press release. 
The Managing Director of the league Aamir Akhtar was excited on prepositions of new changes in the league. The introduction of player’s trade and exclusivity of foreign players will set EPL apart from other leagues according to former cricketer of Nepal, Akhtar. 
“The exclusivity in foreign players shall also set EPL apart from other regional leagues happening around the country. Players Trade opening for the first time in the history of Nepali Cricket could see star Nepali Players being sold for big amounts,”stated Akhtar.
He added that global big names will be announced as iconic players of upcoming season of league, “We are on the verge of finalizing big names from the global cricketing community as iconic players in the EPL.”
Earlier in September, 2019, EPL had signed a three-year broadcasting deal with international sports channel DSports in a first of its kind in the domestic cricket.
EPL MD Akhtar and DSports chief operating officer Dilip Sharan signed a memorandum of understanding. As per the agreement, DSports will have the full rights of broadcasting all the matches, analysis, presentation ceremonies, auction and other EPL events. The financial terms of the agreement was not disclosed.

 
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