Shikhar Dhawan mewakili Karnali Yaks di musim perdana Liga Utama Nepal

Shikhar Dhawan isn’t leaving cricket anytime soon. The Champions Trophy winner announced his retirement from international cricket in August but has since shown that he still has the desire to play the sport. Since then, he’s participated in the Legends League Cricket (LLC), already signed up for a new tournament called the Big Cricket League, and will now participate in the inaugural season of the Nepal Premier League (NPL).

Dhawan’s NPL calling

The southpaw opener has been roped in by the Karnali Yaks for the NPL 2024 edition. Dhawan often goes under the radar, but fascinatingly, he’s the 18th-highest run-scorer in all of T20 cricket. He’s just 203 runs shy of becoming just the 16th man to score 10,000 T20 runs. If we’re concerned with just the Indian Premier League (IPL), the best franchise league in the world, Dhawan’s the second-highest scorer after Virat Kohli. The T20 great would definitely give NPL the limelight it needs and improve Karnali Yaks’ chances of winning the inaugural edition.

Nepal Premier League: Format, schedule, venue & star players

Apart from the Yaks, the remaining seven teams are Biratnagar Kings, Chitwan Rhinos, Janakpur Bolts, Kathmandu Gurkhas, Lumbini Lions, Pokhara Avengers, and Sudurpaschim Royals. The eight-team tournament will run from November 30 to December 21, with 32 matches being played and replicate IPL when it comes to the knockout stages, i.e., playoffs with one eliminator, two qualifiers, and ultimately the final.

The entire schedule for the NPL 2024 is yet to be announced, and so far only the venue (Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground) has been confirmed. It’s not sure whether all the matches will take place in Kirtipur and whether the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) will announce other venues before the tournament kicks off.

NPL will feature other foreign stars like James Neesham, Martin Guptill, Unmukt Chand, and Ben Cutting, among others.

Shikhar Dhawan’s T20 stats