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DPL Schedule 2022

Dhangadhi Premier League (DPL) Nepal – Coverage

Dhangadhi Premier League is Nepal’s franchise T20 league played every year. This league was started by Dhangadhi Cricket Academy and Sudur Pashchim Academy to promote cricket in Nepal and some neighbouring regions.

The DPL season is usually played in the window of March and April just before the start of IPL season. DPL has been approved by International Cricket Council (ICC) in the list of annual T20 cricket tournaments.

Nepal has an old history of cricket being played in 1920 which was introduced by Madan Shumsher JBR. It took a while for Nepal to become an associate member of ICC.

Currently, Cricket is very popular in Nepal and by addition of their own league (DPL), in the country, the love and passion for the game has improved a lot.

From the three seasons of DPL so far, it has been observed that the bowlers dominate throughout the tournament, while batters struggle to make quick runs especially in a format like T20 which require innovation and courage.

Nepal has a lot of local talented batters, but the problem is not with the players but due the political issues in the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), the players have moved away from cricket due to an insecure future.

However, despite the drawbacks in the tournament, DPL is expected to improve the cricketting culture and standard of Nepal and improve Nepal’s national team by providing great talent in the near future.

DPL is restricted not only for Nepali players as players from neighbouring countries like India, Bhutan and China also get the exposure to play in this league. A lot of Indians who did not get an opportunity to play IPL or domestic tournaments,  have participated in the DPL.

The first edition of DPL was started in 2017. Team Chauraha Dhanagadhi are the winners of the inaugural season of DPL. They defeated Biratnagar by 62 runs in the final. They are also the most successful team of DPL by winning two back-to-back editions in 2017 and 2018.

DPL Schedule Format

Matches are played in a round-robin format where each team plays the other once. The six teams play five matches each, therefore the total of 15 matches are played in the group stage.

Points System –

For a Win – 2 points

For a Loss – 0 points

For a abandoned – 1 point

The teams are ranked based on the points scored, and the top four teams qualify for the knockouts.

Qualifier 1 – The 1st and 2nd placed teams play the qualifier 1. The winner goes through to the final while the loser stays back to play with the winner of eliminator.

Eliminator – The 3rd and 4th placed teams play the eliminator, the winner qualifiers for the qualifier 2 while the loser is knocked out of the tournament.

Qualifier 2 – The winner of Eliminator and the loser of qualifier 1 plays the qualifier 2. The winner goes through the final.

Final – The winner of qualifier 1 and qualifier 2 plays the final. The winner of the final eventually lifts the title. The winner gets a cash prize of 3 Million Nepalise Rupees

DPL Schedule: Teams Participating in DPL

A total of six teams representing the six different cities of Nepal play this tournament.

1. Biratnagar Kings –

Captain – Paras Khadka

Titles – 0

Owner – Paras Luniya

Previous season (2019) – Finished 5th in the group stage

Biratnagar Kings is a team based at Biratnagar city which is at the eastern plains of Nepal. Former Nepal captain Paras Khadka is the captain of this team. Paras Khadka is one of the biggest figures of Nepal cricket who has served the country for more than a decade.

CYC Attariya –

Captain –  Dipendra Singh Airee

Titles – 1

Owner – Nar Bahadur Raj

Previous Season (2020) – Champions

CYC Attariya is a team of DPL based at the city of Attariya.  CYC Attariya are the defending champions of the DPL season as they defeated Mahendranagar United by a close margin of 3 wickets.

3. Kathmandu Goldens –

Captain – Gyanendra Malla

Titles –  0

Owner – Ramesh Silwal

Previous Season – finished 3rd in the group stage

Kathmandu Glodens are the team representing Nepal’s capital city Kathmandu. Over the 3 years of DPL so far, their performances haven’t upto the mark despite having some big names and utility players in the line-up.

4. Mahendranagar United –

Captain –  Sharad Vesawkar

Titles – 0

Owner –  Sushi Kumar Shrestha

Previous Season – Runners-up

Mahendranagar United is a team based at Bhimdatta city. They joined the tournament in the second edition replacing the defunct Kanchanpur Iconic team.

5 .Dhangadhi Stars –

Captain – Sompal Kami

Titles – 0

Owner –  Krishna Vohra

Previous Season – Finished 6th in the group stage

Dhangadhi Stars is a team based at Dhangadhi city. It is named after the tournament Dhangadhi Premier League and is the latest addition to the DPL tournament. They have replaced the successful team of DPL – Chauraha Dhangadhi in 2019.

6. Rupandeshi Challengers –

Captain – Shakti Gauchan

Titles – 0

Owner – Suraj Uprety

Previous Season –  finished 4th in the group stage

The Rupandehi Challengers is a team of DPL based at the city of  Rupandehi.  The Challengers have been a consistent team of DPL as they qualify for the play-offs on two occasions. They have had some good performances in the previous season by winning 3 out 5 games in the group stage.

Winners By Season / Edition

EDITIONWINNERRUNNER-UPYEAR
1Team Chauraha DhangadhiBiratnagar Kings2017
2Team Chauraha DhangadhiKathmandu Goldens2018
3CYC AttariyaMahendranagar United2019

Top-10 Run-scorers (2018-19 season)

Sunny patel has scored the most runs in the previous edition. Averaging 67.33 at strike rate of 149.62, he has scored 202 runs becoming the highest run scorer in a single edition of DPL. He played vital for his team in the final to lift their maiden trophy. He was named player of the series for impactful  performance throughout the tournament.

Batting at SSP Cricket Ground Dhangadhi is not very easy as we see a lot of low scoring encounters. This is one of the rarest tournaments where bowlers win you matches, while batters win you tournaments.

The top-3 run scorer belonging to CYC Attariya shows why CYC have been an extraordinary side in the previous season.

PLAYERRINS
1. Sunny Patel [CYC Attariya]202
2. DS Airee [CYC Attariya]168
3. Jaykishan Kolsawala [CYC Attariya]159
4. Ankit Dabas [Kathmandu Goldens]153
5. Sumit Maharajan [Rupandehi Challengers]97
6. Binod Bhandari [Rupandehi Challengers]84
7. Sandeep Rajali [Dhangadhi Stars]83
8. Babar Hayat [Rupandehi Challengers]81
9. Subramaniun Anand [Mahendranagar United]79
10. Gyanendra Malla [Kathmandu Goldens]72

Top 10 Wickettakers –

Rupandehi Challengers left arm medium pacer has taken the most number of wickets in the previous season. Bhandari being a left armer generates different angles which troubles the batters facing the new ball. He has taken 14 wickets at an average of 8.50 and an economy-rate of just 5.17.

 The slow bowlers who took pace off the delivery have been successful in picking wickets regularly.

PLAYERWICKETS
1. Lalith Singh Bhandari [Rupandehi Challengers]14
2. Bhuvan Karki  [CYC Attariya]14
3. Puneet Mehra [Rupandehi Challengers]12
4. Sagar Dhakal [Mahendranagar United]11
5. Dipendra Singh Airee [CYC Attariya]10
6. Bikram Sob Rupandehi Challengers]10
7. Dipendra Rawat [CYC Attariya]9
8. Sunny Patel [CYC Attariya]9
9. Abinash Bohara [Mahendranagar United]8
10. Bipin Khatri [Dhangadhi Stars]7