KATHMANDU, Oct 5: Managing Director of Everest Premier League Aamir Akhtar confirmed December 8 as the commencing dates for the brand new season in an official program held at Tripureshwar, Kathmandu on Thursday. The premier T20 cricket event is set to run for 15 days as the final will be played on December 22.
The cricket tournament has been scheduled in a way to include three Saturdays, a public holiday in Nepal, making it more accessible for working as well as student fans.
Akhtar, the former Nepal national cricket player, thanked all the involved stakeholders for making the event a success last year and stated to make the new edition a bigger one. “We are trying our level best to increase investment and to incorporate international expertise, whether that is in ground operations or ground entertainment, to make the event bigger,” said Akhtar speaking in the event.
Top finish expected in Nepal’s favorite format of T20
He also stated that process for ICC sanction has already been started. “The necessary documents have been forwarded to ICC for approval. Having received positive feedback over last year’s event, we are confident that ICC will sanction the 2018 event as well,” added Akhtar.
Many franchises including Kathmandu Kings XI and Chitwan Tigers have already announced their foreign players for the event. Players like, Kevin O’Brien from Ireland, Sikandar Raza from Zimbabwe, Rohan Mustafa from the United Arab Emirates, James Fuller from England, have confirmed to play in the 2018 edition of EPL.
Biratnagar Warriors won the last edition of EPL defeating Bhairahawa Gladiators by a run in an epic final witnessed by 15,000 spectators. Pokhara Rhinos and Lalit Patriots are other franchises participating in the cricket league.
Similarly, EPL claimed that it is working on making the new addition an absolute class event by adding elements from IPL and international cricket.
The 2017 edition was big with over 60,000 spectators and 2 million viewers worldwide, claimed Akhtar.
