The impact of foreign players in the Nepal Premier League (NPL) goes far beyond the runs they score and wickets they take. Sharing past experiences, the positive energy that grows after signing with the team, the increased buzz abroad, the impact on the brand value of the competition, and the direct impact on the development of Nepali cricket are its dimensions.

Priyank Panchal, who played for Karnali Yaks, has scored nearly 9,000 runs in first-class cricket this season. Why couldn't he, who started his cricket journey with Virat Kohli, be selected for the national team? How did Afghanistan's Najibullah Zadran learn cricket? How are Australia's William Bosisto and Scottish player Mark Watt playing? How have they been able to keep themselves in the game without losing confidence?

While Sompal Kami was talking to the players who came to play in Nepal from abroad, all the players of Karnali Yaks got the opportunity to hear their experiences. 'Whenever we sit and talk off the field, we learn a lot about cricket. There are stepping stones in everyone's life that led to success after struggle. What was their journey like, how did Afghanistan get to where they are today? We got the opportunity to erase the confusion, I am very happy,' Sompal said about the foreign players while wrapping up the season.

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The much-awaited league match between Biratnagar and Sudurpaschim is still a thrill for fans. It was a thrill of a performance, where global stars Faf du Plessis and Sam Hazlett were seen batting explosively in their best form. There is hardly a cricket fan who does not get goosebumps after watching that match.

Biratnagar's first qualifier journey was possible only with a comprehensive win against Sudurpaschim, who were undefeated for 6 matches in the league stage. On top of that, the target of 148 runs had to be achieved in 13.5 overs. Such a victory against Dipendra Singh Airee's team could only be imagined. But surprisingly, it was possible. How?

Faf du and Sam put on a great show. Their partnership of 97 runs in 43 balls was the explosive of the tournament. It brought Biratnagar closer to a resounding victory.

'That match was interesting to watch as a spectator. The big lesson for our local players was how to give such a performance in that innings. It was a lesson on how to move forward if you find yourself in that situation,’ said Biratnagar captain Sandeep Lamichhane after the league stage match. In the next two matches, Biratnagar’s batting lineup collapsed and the team considered the strongest in the tournament was eliminated with a big defeat. This has made clear the uncertainty of T-20 cricket.

Amazing performance, team out of the league

Adam Rossington and Watt are the only players who can score a century in the NPL this time. A century on the slow pitch of Kirtipur is a milestone in itself. Which Nepali players have not been able to achieve after two seasons. But they showed that if patience, class and proper cricketing are shot, a century can be scored on the pitch of Kirtipur too.

After the league stage match, the batters of Pokhara Avengers, Karnali Yaks and Chitwan Rhinos, who were eliminated, were in the top three places in the list of highest scorers. They are Rossington (Pokhara), Watt (Karnali) and Ravi Bopara (Chitwan). It was a complete contradiction in the batting statistics.

Rossington was at the top of the list of highest run-scorers with 323 runs after the league stage. He still remains at the top. But his team Pokhara exited in fifth place. Watt of Karnali, who scored 246 runs including a century, was in second place in the list of highest run-scorers. But the Yaks also did not do well this time. The team exited in sixth place. Bopara scored 237 runs with three consecutive half-centuries in the first three matches.

After the performance in the last matches was not consistent and the rest of the players could not step up and play, Chitwan, which reached the playoffs last season, exited in seventh place this season. Bopara's performance created an atmosphere that kept the Chitwan fans' faith in the team.

Karnali's Panchal also scored 197 runs, but could not take the team to a strong position. Dhananjay Lakshman got the opportunity to play only 3 games. Pokhara signed him later and took 3, 4 and 3 wickets against Karnali, Kathmandu and Chitwan respectively. He bowled at an economy of 5.74. But the team could not move above the fifth position.

Trust in 'Overseas Player'

Supporters like to see their team win. A player who can be trusted in the team is the first requirement for victory. The performance of the player on the field is the trust of the supporters. How exciting would it be to watch the team play when players like Faf du Plessis, Martin Guptill, Merchant de Lange and George Mansi are in the same team? The performance of these players showed a strong presence on the parapet in support of Biratnagar this year.

Sudurpaschim 'collapsed' Biratnagar's batting in the first qualifier. The match was won by 77 runs. However, after the match, Biratnagar supporter Oshish Niraula, who was eager to go home, was saying, ‘The wicket went a little too quickly. But as long as du Plessis was there, there was hope, but when he got out, the hope also died.’ This statement was the ‘impact’ of du Plessis on the team.

The current situation in the NPL is different. Kathmandu and Biratnagar have been eliminated from the playoffs while two teams reached the final. In both matches, the batting/bowling of D’RC Shutt, Ruben Trumpelman and Niroshan Dickwella is currently putting Lumbini in a comfortable position. Shutt has performed consistently in all matches.

In the last four matches, he had scored 57, 30, 33 and 45 runs respectively. Lumbini’s performance was also not special as his batting could not work in the beginning. Namibian Trumpelman has given the team a breakthrough by getting the top-order batsmen out in almost all matches. He has taken 12 wickets in 9 matches and is bowling at an economy of seven.

Scott Kuggeleijn of Sudurpaschim is an important part of the team. He has contributed his experience in all areas of the team, including bowling. ‘I learned how to read the batter, when to bowl which ball, what the mindset should be, how much to bowl in a week in practice, how to make a schedule, how to recover,’ Hikmat Mahara, who made it to the Sudurpaschim team through the talent hunt, shared what he learned from foreign players.

Hikmat learned how to bowl against left-handed batters from Kuggeleijn. Then he learned to bowl off-cutters against Kushal Malla in the match against Chitwan and George Mansi in Biratnagar. Some balls failed, many balls were defended by the batter. ‘The more games you play, the more opponents you play, the more you benefit. Playing with foreign players makes you mature,’ he said at the end, ‘I used to be nervous at the beginning, but now I don’t.’

How did Harmeet Singh perform against Kathmandu? Harmeet, who entered the field after losing 6 wickets after scoring 72 runs, played an explosive innings of 53 runs in 20 balls. This was one of the most aggressive batting in the NPL. In the same game, he bowled 4 overs and took 2 wickets for 21 runs. That too by dismissing important players from the top and middle order. In the league stage match, while defeating Chitwan by 49 runs, Australia’s Chris Lynn scored a huge score of 75 runs in 56 balls. He retired hurt, who was on the verge of a century. He shared his experience of world cricket including the Australian national team, IPL, Big Bash League, CPL in the dressing room of Sudurpaschim.

The presence of Milind Kumar, John Simpson and Ben Charlesworth in Kathmandu paved the way for this team to reach the playoffs. Ben's innings of 64 runs against Pokhara and John's 60 runs against Chitwan took Kathmandu's journey forward. Although there was little talk among the fans, the role of these players in Monty Desai's team was very clear and important, which brought Kathmandu forward as a competitive team.

Who had high hopes

Jason Roy, Jimmy Neesam, David Malan, Gulbadin Naib were such players who came and went. There was no talk about their performance on the field. The team was eliminated without the fans being able to experience explosive/sharp innings from them. Mansi, who was expected to be very powerful in the opening, had a terrible league stage.

He was out in his matches in the league stage for 4, 0 and 0. Fans were disappointed with Mansi's performance at this level, who scored 2,302 runs in 81 T20 International matches. He was dismissed for zero against Lumbini and Karnali consecutively. He was on the bench in both matches against Sudurpaschim.

JJ Smit was a flop in the league stage. He took only 2 wickets in 5 matches and could only add 60 runs. Despite taking 2 wickets in two matches in the playoffs, he could not become an impact player in the team. Lumbini reached the final after his improved performance in the playoffs.

Players like Lahiru Milantha, Ricardo Casconcelos, Max O'Dowd, Thomas Draga were limited to a few matches. Fans were also disappointed with the much-awaited Sohail Tanvir and Malan. Tanvir, who led Chitwan to the playoffs with a brilliant performance last season, was only average in the remaining matches this season despite taking 4 wickets against Kathmandu. Fans estimated that he could only bowl averagely due to the decline in performance with age. Afghan batting all-rounder Naib was also expected to bat explosively in the NPL. Even the supporters who came to watch his game did not get to feel that thrill.

‘Cricket is not played by looking at the opponent, it is played on the field. It is not a game of one ball. No one can be called good or bad. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t,’ what Biratnagar director Dipendra Chaudhary said in a different context is also relevant here. Anyway, except for a few games, most of the games have kept the supporters on the field until the last over, which is a big thing.