The first edition of the Nepal Premier League, which was held last year, received much attention and was a huge success. Amidst doubts about its continuation, the second season of the competition is starting from Monday. Aspects such as the development of physical infrastructure, the financial strength of the Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) and franchises, and internal and external investment will ensure the long-term development of the NPL.

 For now, the NPL has become the most powerful and awaited competition in the country. In terms of the experience of the first edition of the NPL, the efforts of the second season and the plans for the coming days, CAN Secretary Paras Khadka was interviewed by Kantipur's Binod Pandey : 

How are the preparations and enthusiasm for the NPL?

Expectations are very high. We are taking every initiative from the Cricket Association. Work is also underway. Now, work is being done to organize the ground a little. The work was also delayed due to the rain. The floodlight work could not be done quickly. It was not possible to put up the poles until the rain stopped. But everything is coming together. The ground is beautiful.

The franchises have brought great players, even though they are not completely open to players from Test nations. Importantly, a 'brand' that was built with investment by the Nepal Cricket Association last year. We have now moved forward to further organize this 'brand' and continue the 'story' of last year's success. The challenge is, it has been very difficult to manage expectations.

What difficulties have you faced?

Everyone will have to come to the field. A structure of 10,000 has just been built on the field. Then we also have our own demands from the district and the province. We have tried to organize everyone as much as possible. It is not easy to organize all their expectations by having the NCP, the entire state, and sponsors. But we are managing it as much as we can. When the competition is big, there are many 'ills' in it. There has been a lot of criticism.

We can discuss what is right, what is wrong, what is wrong, what aspects need to be improved in a structure that has just been born. It is also a new effort for the Cricket Association. During this effort, how can we continue the investment and expectations that we have received from everyone since last year and make Nepal a strong 'cricketing hub' through the competition? We are managing the field, but it is not easy to meet the expectations of the entire state.

After the first season of the NPL ended and the second season is starting, what do you think its 'brand' has become? What is the challenge of maintaining it?

If there is infrastructure, we will go into a sustainable mood. Our ground now has a capacity of 10,000. It had to be completed with priority after the second and third phase of the ‘tender’ process was agreed upon and approved by the government. Once a cricket ground is completed, we can create an economic structure from it. If we develop a district competition by building it, we can have a big impact on Nepali cricket. Right now, the attraction towards this competition is amazing at the national and international levels.

It was difficult to ‘convince’ ‘Star Sports’ in the first season, but people are making that one thing a matter of what they want/don’t want. Nepali TV channels are a medium for everyone to come together. When something is going well, both its positive and negative sides are added. For now, this is a competition.

We are already thinking about what can be done to make it better. It is not that everything is the same just because it is a ‘brand’. It has just entered its second year and its potential is great. If we are to maintain this possibility and move forward, we have already created an environment where big investors and big players will come and play in our backyard in the coming days.

The estimated turnover of one billion was said in the first season, what about this time?

I think it will be better than that. It seems that a single team invested 6-7 million. The investment of the Cricket Association, the investment of eight teams, the investment of the teams in social media, hotels, travel, etc., is spending around this much on the total NPL expenditure. The word NPL is known from the perspective of social media, newspapers and ordinary people.

Even those who do not understand cricket have reached a point where they understand that NPL exists. If we look at the history of Nepali cricket, perhaps the number of people who understand cricket is gradually increasing. Earlier, the number of people who only watch it was increasing, now the number of people who watch it is also increasing gradually. This is a continuous process. There is no need to get too excited now, because there are still many obstacles to overcome.

Some grounds are also being built in the mofussils. What are the preparations to take the NPL to a 'home and away' system?

If the government's program is completed next year, we can take the NPL outside the capital in the third season. It is not certain that that situation will happen in 7-8 months. Even if the 'home and away' plan is not in the third season, we can go to the fourth. Which will further decentralize. The important thing is infrastructure. Along with infrastructure, it is the arrangements to arrange it.

When playing a cricket 'match', its management is important. There is a compulsion to organize a competition in one field. While cricket is developing, we should understand how the overall development of cricket is happening. 'Grassroots' cricket is not yet in a position to strengthen it. In the coming days, we should have a stronger cricket 'calendar' and a domestic cricket season to hold such competitions. We have planned to expand it in the future, not just in Kathmandu as it is now.

Is this a convenient time to organize the NPL or can there be others? Hasn't there been a problem with other competitions around the world taking place at this time?

I think it would have been easier if we could have done it by the end of October or mid-October. But we had World Cup qualifiers, World Cup League-2 matches. That's why it was difficult for us to compete at that time. We started by trying to keep our league as neutral as possible. But when we had a 20-25 day competition, we had to compete with some. What we are trying to do is not let NPL compete with other leagues. It's 12 months, but there are so many leagues in the world, that's why it's difficult to arrange everything. Right now, October-November is the best time.

Since the ICC has not given full recognition, we have not been able to take players from Test nations, and people are also confused. What process has been taken forward by 'CAN' to get full recognition?

The 2024 season ended on the 21st. We had written to the ICC on December 22. We had taken the initiative even before that. But due to some past competitions, we had some 'negative checkmarks'. We have almost 'cleared' that. Now, if we want to complete the second season like the first season, if we listen to the feedback we get from them, we have given us time after evaluating the two-year period.

If this is completed, the player restrictions will definitely be removed. This is why managing foreign players has become a bit of a challenge. Franchises are also having difficulty managing the field in a similar way. But I would also like to thank the franchises for understanding the problem. From the beginning, we had a framework for the franchise team that we could work according to, not just 1-2 years, but 10 years of contracts. In terms of investment, long-term sustainability, and cooperation, our behavior has been good to this day. Let's hope it continues to get better like this.

What are the plans to sustainably sustain franchises?

The first condition was to have infrastructure. Perhaps this year too, if everything goes as planned due to the infrastructure, ‘ticketing, plan, revenue’, the franchise will get good ‘revenue’. In the first season, we have also distributed 4-5 crores to the team according to the franchise model. If we go for the ‘home and away concept’ in a ‘self-sustainable mood’ as much as possible, then it will go. But if a full audience, ‘broadcast’ and ‘digital rights’ are kept, and a ‘subscription’ of 300 rupees is watched by 5 to 3 million people around the world, it will reach 40-50 crores.

That structure will be created, that money will go to cricket development and half of it will be received by the franchises in the ‘revenue model’. We have also taken up challenges this time in the ‘sustainable model’. If we can do the ‘subscription model’ this time, the franchise team will be able to spend independently in financial terms. 

You also went to one or two 'talent hunts'. How do you feel about the passion for cricket seen in the current young generation?

There is a lot of hope in it. Parents also have the feeling that they will make their children cricketers. That atmosphere has been created. The expectation is that every child should do well, among parents and youth. Interest in cricket has increased. But it has not been structured. Priority should be given to school-level cricket. The talent is there. In the next phase, we are trying to do 'homework' for it. I hope that the love, the 'brand' that Nepal Cricket has become now - we will continue it.

The NPL has started. But it has been said that 15-20 percent of the construction work is left, especially in the construction of floodlights. Is it possible to play under floodlights?

They themselves have given an assurance that they will prepare it to play cricket under floodlights. We will start the NPL under floodlights on Mangsir 1. We are preparing to test it before then and take it to 'full fledged'. 

Will the second phase of the construction of the Tribhuvan University Cricket 'Ground' begin as soon as the NPL is over?

That is the government's decision. We have not received official information about it. 

They say that floodlights and November-December are a bit incompatible. March-April would have been suitable, they say, for playing under floodlights. They say that it is difficult to watch under floodlights in winter. What has happened about this?

IPL is held in March-April. When there is IPL, there is no 'window' or 'charm' of any competition. It would have been easier for us if we could have done it a month earlier. It is cold when the 'match' starts at 4 pm, but when the atmosphere of the ground is there, it creates an 'atmosphere'. Like the 'English Premier League' in winter.

In England, football is held in 'winter' and cricket in 'summer'. For us too, if this 'window' could be started a little bit till October, it would be good in terms of weather. This was the time for it. This is a test, for us too. How cold is the 'dew factor'? We would also like to request all of you to come to the 'ground', come to the 'ground', those who can watch on mobile by 'subscribing' and everyone else to watch on TV to support Nepali cricket.

This time, most of the teams went to India to train. There are few training grounds in our Nepal. Academies are opening well now. The main thing for 'outdoor' is the pitch. It cannot be built. Should CAN 'facilitate' such things or should the franchises build them themselves?

Some franchises have taken the initiative themselves. It has been two years since the current CAN team joined the Cricket Association. Not everything changes at once. I think we are in the right direction. But we will have to move forward in a planned manner without getting too excited or feeling too 'low'. The association has moved forward with a culture and structure. We have moved forward by gradually changing it.

The most important thing is that if CAN is financially autonomous, everything will be automatic. We have people working in the districts and provinces, but they lack resources. If we find resources, the overall situation of provincial and district cricket will change along with the franchise.

As the NPL is becoming more popular among the public, its management should be more transparent, but why are disputes and questions increasing?

We are clear. We are working to develop Nepal cricket. It is natural for discussions to take place among different people. Right now, we are trying our best. We are also moving forward in a 'new dimension'. So it is not easy to cover everything at once. We have dared. That dare has the support of the supporters. May it continue.

Nepal cricket has gained global recognition. It has not lost its 'brand value'. Not only the NPL, but there are other competitions as well. Therefore, we need the support of the supporters to take the 'brand' of Nepal Cricket forward. We hope that the supporters will support us by sitting on the grass of the Tribhuvan University ground for years and watching from the seats.

When CAN itself repeatedly changed the tender notice and criteria for the television broadcasting and selling of 'OTT' rights of NPL, natural suspicion and controversy have increased. Why did this situation come about?

No matter what we do in Nepal, there will be controversy. It is said that there is no happiness even if we work, and there is no happiness even if we do not. There are so many 'revolutions' now, which we have to overcome. Sports is a sector with low investment, we are creating a structure by finding resources ourselves and spending all our investment on cricket. Therefore, controversy is natural.

Because there are many hands and organizations trying to connect with this competition. But we have tried to make the process we have as 'fair' as possible. It is not easy to satisfy everyone. Again, we are responsible. We will also answer. Let these disputes be resolved as soon as possible. Cricket should continue to move forward despite the disputes. If anyone has a claim, let it come in an institutional form.

We had invested one crore more in the 'OTT' rights, but one party went to the authorities saying that the claim was given one crore less?

First of all, according to our 'report', they have failed technically. Once they have failed, they do not have the ability to make such a claim. They have also failed in the 'revenue model', even more than one or two crores, even in that. For a special reason, they have been shown to be technically incompetent. At the same time, they have more benefits in the 'revenue model' they have given, than us. The system we have developed now is much better. 

The 'mechanism', the plan, to 'hold the server' was not done by just investing money once 'OTT' was established. Today, four friends can buy the broadcasting rights by investing 20 million each and run them, and instead of saying that I have a system, there should be a 'mechanism' for this. DishHome Media, who made the 'bid'. Other media institutions also took the form.

When two came and one did not get it, their complaints were more important than just saying that I invested a lot of money, the 'system' and 'revenue sharing model' they presented were not compared with the 'regulations' we made. Therefore, they may have their demands, but now there is no choice but to move forward in the right direction. If we move forward in the right direction, they must have understood this. If you move forward legally, I say on behalf of CAN, we will not stop you, but you will not be 'qualified' through our 'regulations' and processes.

 Where do you think we stand from the first season in the franchise league of 'associate' countries until we come here?

The wave of NPL has spread globally. This is the beginning. Jimmy Neesham has come back to play. Players have come from Afghanistan to play in the NPL. There is a 'line-up' of good players. We have brought Aakash Chopra and others among the 'commentators'. This is good competition. The most important thing is the 'brand value' of Nepal cricket, we have to complete this year successfully like last year.

Are you personally being 'approached' by 'star' foreign players?

They do. Why do I have certain relationships? I didn't play franchise cricket much, the more international games I played, the more relationships I had, and after joining the association, I got the opportunity to meet more players from the board. What I will take the initiative to do is to ask the players to come and play in Nepal. Their acceptance and the support of the players also had to be supported by the franchise. They don't want to come cheaply. Eight teams have accepted the support given by the franchise and the call made by CAN. I believe that this will continue. In the near future, if our ‘financial model’, our plan and the team’s investment come together, we will reach a point where we can create history.

It is better and more transparent to buy a player in international games than to buy one for so much. Why is there no provision for disclosing the investment made in foreign players in the NPL?

There are some financial issues. We are new, with so much investment, two leagues could have been bought with the investment of one team. But now the franchise team has invested with an open heart. There will come a time when we will also reach a point where we will be able to buy foreign players through an open ‘auction’. After the third season, we will ‘auction’ Nepali players under the ‘open cap ceiling’. Getting our players organized is the first priority. After that, as many foreign players as come, if they agree, they will come and play, and go. There may come a point when we can also go for an open ‘auction’. For that, Nepal’s investment alone will not be enough, foreign investors will have to connect with Nepali investors.

Did you think that NPL would get this level of attention?

We still have to do it. I have always dreamed big. Personal dreams have become even bigger after being associated with the organization. We will organize the Cricket Association better and generate a better ‘mechanism’ from every competition of the Cricket Association. Due to which Nepali cricket will go up.

But, the ‘ultimate dream’ is to give Nepali cricket a 50-over World Cup and Test recognition, I don’t know when. Let’s hope that efforts are being made to build its foundations. We will continue it. It has been successful in terms of interest and attention. The extent of ‘subscription’ also gives an idea of ​​how many people really love cricket. We have developed a ‘mechanism’ to watch the NPL ‘full season’ at a very cheap price, 300 rupees is three cups of tea, within Nepal.