Eight Nepali players are set to compete in the inaugural EU T20 League Belgium.
A total of eight Nepali cricketers, including national team captain Rohit Paudel and vice-captain Dipendra Singh Airee, have been drafted into different teams.
Dipendra had already been pre-signed by JB Bruges, while Sandeep Lamichhane was also pre-signed by Liège Red Lions.
Along with Rohit, four other players were picked through the draft held on Tuesday, while Anil Sah and Gulshan Jha were selected in the optional round.
Captain Rohit was signed by Ghent Gladiators under Category ‘B’. Similarly, wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh was picked by Antwerp Anchors under Category ‘C’.
Lalit Rajbanshi and Ishan Pandey were drafted by JB Bruges, and Anil Sah and Gulshan Jha also joined the team through the optional round. All four belong to Category ‘C’.
JB Bruges is owned by Dream Sports, which is also associated with the NPL franchise Janakpur Bolts.
Earlier, JB Bruges had pre-signed New Zealand’s aggressive opener Colin Munro, South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen, Wayne Parnell, and Nikhil Chaudhary.
A total of 22 Nepali players had registered for the league. Apart from those already pre-signed and drafted, the registered players include Kushal Bhurtel, Aarif Sheikh, Karan KC, Sompal Kami, Aadil Ansari, Sher Malla, Lokesh Bam, Binod Bhandari, Sharad Vesawkar, Aadil Alam, Santosh Yadav, Kushal Malla, Bhim Sharki, Shahab Alam, Gulshan Jha, and Pawan Sarraf.
For Lalit, Aasif, and Ishan, this will be their first experience playing in an overseas league. However, Captain Rohit, Dipendra, and Sandeep have previously played in franchise leagues outside Nepal.
Team composition
All teams had already pre-signed five players before the draft. Following seven rounds of drafting today, each team has now selected a total of 12 players.
After the draft, Belgian players were selected. Each team must include at least four Belgian players, bringing the squad size to 16.
Teams are allowed to pick up to two additional players through an optional round, under which Anil and Gulshan joined JB Bruges.
In the draft, Category ‘A’ players were selected in the first round, followed by two rounds for Category ‘B’, and four rounds for Category ‘C’.
Each team is required to have a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 18 players.
