The 2026 Nepal Premier League, also known as Siddhartha Bank NPL 2026 for sponsorship reasons, will be the third season of the Nepal Premier League (NPL), a franchise Twenty20 cricket league in Nepal. The tournament features eight teams competing in 32 matches from 26 October to 21 November 2026. Lumbini Lions are the defending champions.
Background The Nepal Premier League is a franchise Twenty20 cricket league in Nepal and organised by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) and features eight franchise teams. The season is scheduled to consist of 32 matches.
Ahead of the season, the franchises submitted their retention lists before the player auction. A total of 52 players were retained by the eight franchises. The player auction was held on 6 July 2026 in Kathmandu, Nepal, with 155 players shortlisted and 37 players sold.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been closely evaluating the tournament's safety, professional organization, and overall infrastructure. According to the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) leadership, the ICC indicated that after evaluating the success and governance of the second season, full structural sanctioning and official T20 status are planned for the upcoming third season.
Overseas signings The season also saw the franchises strengthen their squads through the signing of overseas players. Shakib Al Hasan joined Pokhara Avengers while Dhananjaya Lakshan was also signed by the franchise. Scott Kuggeleijn returned to Sudurpaschim Royals. while Jimmy Neesham returned to Janakpur Bolts. K. S. Bharat was signed by Kathmandu Gorkhas and Niroshan Dickwella was retained by defending champions Lumbini Lions. David Warner signing with the Kathmandu Gurkhas
Teams Team2025 performance Captain Biratnagar Kings3rd Sandeep Lamichhane Chitwan Rhinos7th Kushal Malla Janakpur Bolts8th Harmeet Singh Shivnarine Chanderpaul Karnali Yaks6th Sompal Kami Gyanendra Malla Kathmandu Gorkhas4th Karan KC Monty Desai Lumbini LionsChampions Rohit Paudel Tinu Yohannan Pokhara Avengers5th Kushal Bhurtel Ajantha Mendis Sudurpaschim RoyalsRunners-up Dipendra Singh Airee
Auction and personnel changes The franchises were required to submit their retention lists ahead of the 2026 season, and a total of 52 players were retained by the eight franchises ahead of the auction. The auction was held on 6 July 2026 in Kathmandu, Nepal. A total of 155 players were shortlisted for the auction, of which 37 players were sold. Aasif Sheikh became the most expensive player of the auction, being bought by Lumbini Lions for NPR 20 lakh.
Squads
The player auction took place on 6 July 2026.
Biratnagar Kings Chitwan Rhinos Janakpur Bolts Karnali Yaks Sandeep Lamichhane (c) Basir Ahamad Lokesh Bam (wk) Pratish GC Narayan Joshi Subash Bhandari Rupesh kumar singh Naren Saud Dilsad Ali Sujan Thapaliya Aprajit Poudel Pratik Shrestha Imran Sheikh Charith Asalanka (SL) Jishan Alam (BAN) Shubham Ranjane (USA) Kushal Malla (c) Rijan Dhakal Kamal Singh Airee Dev Khanal Arjun Saud (wk) Deepak Bohara Ranjeet Kumar Bipin Rawal (wk) Bibek kumar Yadav Mausam Dhakal Ashok Dhami Gautam Kc Salauddin Khan Ravi Bopara (ENG) Sikandar Raza (ZIM) Kaleem Sana (CAN) Anil Sah (wk) Lalit Rajbanshi Bikash Aagri Mayan Yadav Aaditya Mahata Trit Raj Das Abhishek Tiwari Bishal kumar Patel Amar singh Rautela Rit Gautam Santosh Karki Aashutosh Pandey Bishal Susling Harmeet Singh (c) (USA) Jimmy Neesham (NZ) Iftikhar Ahmed (PAK) Moeen Ali (ENG) Sompal Kami (c) Nandan Yadav Gulshan Jha Pawan Sarraf Deepak Dumre (wk) Unish Singh Thakuri Yuvraj Khatri Shubh Kansakar Dipendra Rawat Bipin Sharma Surya Tamang Sachin Sharma Diwan Pun Mark Watt (SCO) Akbar Ali (wk) (BAN) Ariful Islam (BAN) Kathmandu Gorkhas Lumbini Lions Pokhara Avengers Sudurpaschim Royals Karan KC (c) Mohammad Aadil Alam Shahab Alam Rashid Khan Bhim Sharki Santosh Yadav Sahil Patel Prashiddha Jaisi Dayanand Mandal Krishna Paudel Dev Shah Suryanshu koirala Sonu Devkota David Warner (AUS) K. S. Bharat (wk) (IND) Sahan Arachchige (SL) Rohit Paudel (c) Sundeep Jora Sher Malla Dinesh Adhikari Tilak Bhandari Abhishesh Gautam Dilip Nath (wk) Aasif Sheikh (wk) Kishore Mahato Durgesh Gupta Aakash Tripathi Arniko Prasad Yadav Ajay Chauhan Ruben Trumpelmann (NAM) Niroshan Dickwella (wk) (SL) D'Arcy Short (AUS) Kushal Bhurtel (c) Aakash Chand Sagar Dhakal Dinesh Kharel Arjun Kumal Bipin Khatri Kiran Thagunna Arjun Gharti Chhetri Sudip Aryal Bibek Rana Magar Sunny BK Pratik Pokharel Bipin Archarya Shakib Al Hasan () Dhananjaya Lakshan (SL) Dipendra Singh Airee (c) Aarif Sheikh Ishan Pandey Abinash Bohara Binod Bhandari (wk) Hemant Dhami Hikmat Mahara Dipak Bohara Anil Kharel Milan Bohara Sachin Bhatta Ayub Chand Tek Rawat Saif Zaib (ENG) Scott Kuggeleijn (NZ) Brandon Mcmullen (SCO)
Venue
All matches will be played at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Kathmandu.
Teams and standings Points table
Match summary
League stage
Playoffs
Bracket
Qualifier 1
Eliminator
Qualifier 2
Final
Broadcasting The Cricket Association of Nepal awarded the domestic television rights for the 2026 season to Himalaya Television Network and the worldwide over-the-top (OTT) streaming rights to NetTV.
Country TV Streaming Nepal Himalaya Television Network NetTV Rest of the world Not announced NetTV
References