The second edition of much awaited Dhangadhi Premier League is set to roll from March 31 at the SSP Ground in Dhangadhi.
Initially scheduled for third week of January, the tournament was postponed after the fixture congestion due to National team’s poor performance in the WCLC. The team failed to stay in Top four of WCLC and hence will need to appear in Division 2. In order to book a place for World Cup Qualifiers, top two position in Division 2 is mandatory.
The scorching heat of Dhangadhi awaits six teams to face off again but with some tweaks, which will certainly develop the game in many ways. This time, the organizers have introduced 2 quota for foreign players. Emulating the recently held Everest Premier League (EPL) which ended up in a successful note after starred performance from some big names in Associate Cricket.
Biratnagar Warriors’ with firepower of two HongKong nationals Babar Hayat and Anshuman Rath won the title. But there was much more than just these two as the blend of Paras Khadka’s leadership and Anil Sah living up to his potential proved too much for opposition.
The cricketing scene since the last edition of DPL has changed a lot. The national team now has majority of youth players meaning the success during this period by the youth team hasn’t gone unnoticed. The youths have taken the domestic scene by storm and the DPL might be another chapter in this series of newfound generation.
Not long ago, Rupandehi Challengers under captaincy of Shakti Gauchan forged out Sahab Alam. Alam rose up from unfamiliar Dhangadi pitch to make his name in U19 team. Similarly, Rohit Kumar Paudel and Anil Sah have made up their names to the senior side after continuous improvement from DPL to U19 and then on EPL. Both these players are sure to hot up the Auction of DPL2 that is set to be held on February 8. Before that, the franchises will be announcing their strategic player who will not be going into auction.
The DPL2 winner will be taking home cash bounty of 2.5 million while the runners up will get 1 million. The total prize money totals up to 5 Million in total including Man of the match and Man of the series accolades. This meaning, the players will not only get to showcase their talent but along with it they will receive handsome amount if performance matches. The increment in the cash prize has been equally supported by the involvement if sponsors in the tournament. DPL2 recently signed sponsorship agreement with Ruslan which surely has a big role to play in a tournament with expected budget of 30 Million.
Twenty 20 cricket is a bit more than cricket and the ‘City of Cricket’ is slowly settling up for that. As the tournament nears, the city’s temperature will be soaring up high and cricket will only add up to it. The organizers are all buckled up and so are the players. The team owners are already on their thinking tables and all it reamins is to wait for the action as it unfolds.