KATHMANDU, May 18: Nepalaya International has signed a one-year main sponsorship deal with Australia’s Excelsior College and the co-sponsorship agreement with Nepal Liquors Private Limited for the Prime Minister’s Cup Inter-province One Day Cricket Tournament on Friday.
Even though the organizer of the tournament is the National Sports Council (NSC), it has given the responsibility of the management of the tournament to Nepalaya.
Nepalaya Director Subhas Pradhan and Excelsior College’s representative Bobby Abrahim signed the main-sponsorship agreement, while Pradhan and Nepal Liquors’ Managing Director Rajesh Prakash signed the co-sponsorship agreement. But, Nepalaya has not disclosed the amount of the agreement of either party.
The NSC had faced many problems after it gave the responsibility of management to the Kathmandu Cricket Training Center last year, so it gave to Nepalaya this year.
“There are a lot of T20 tournaments being played in Nepal, but the 50-over format of the game is organized rarely,’’ Pradhan said. “Nepal has already achieved the One Day status for four years, so this time is very important for Nepali cricket. So, it is important to organize a lot of ODI tournaments in order to continue with this status.’’
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‘Nepal has already achieved the One Day status for four years. So, it is important to organize a lot of ODI tournaments in order to continue with this status.’
“We are quite excited being associated with the tournament. We want Nepal to carry on with the achievement it has got in the recent days in cricket,’’ said Abrahim. “Young players get the opportunity to prove themselves from these kind of tournaments, so we decided to get associated with it.’’
The tournament, which will be played at the TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur and Mulpani Cricket Ground will see participation of 10 teams—three departmental teams Tribhuvan Army Club, Nepal Police Club and Armed Police Force Club and one team each from all the seven provinces. The tournament scheduled to start from May 27 will end on June 11.
The 10 participating teams will be divided into two groups and top two teams of each group will advance into the semifinals which will be played in league and knockout format.
The Group A consists Army, Armed Police, Province 1, Province 2 and Province 4, while Nepal Police, Province 3, Province 5, Province 6 and Province 7 are pitted in Group B.
Armed Police will take on Province 4 in the curtain raiser of the tournament.
The winner of the tournament will take home Rs 2 million, while the runner-up will be rewarded with Rs 1 million. Likewise, the best player of the tournament will be prized with Rs 100,000, and the best batsman and the best bowler will bag Rs 50,000 each. Also, the emerging player of the tournament will get Rs 15,000, while the man-of-the-match will receive Rs 10,000 each.
