Karan KC will captain the Kathmandu Gurkhas in the Nepal Premier League (NPL) cricket tournament. The Gurkhas announced their captain and vice-captain on Sunday through their social media. Namibia’s captain, Gerhard Erasmus, has been named vice-captain of the team.
On Monday, the Gurkhas will kick off their NPL campaign against the Chitwan Rhinos. Karan was picked as the team’s marquee player. He has previously captained various franchise teams in the Dhangadhi Premier League, Everest Premier League, and Nepal T20 League.
Erasmus arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday to participate in the NPL. In February, under his captaincy, Namibia defeated Nepal twice and the Netherlands once in four matches during the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 held in Kathmandu. Recently, Erasmus has led Namibia to the T20 World Cup.
Among the marquee players, Janakpur Bolts is the only team to change its captain so far. Although Aasif Sheikh is Janakpur’s marquee player, the team secured a win over Biratnagar Kings on Saturday under the captaincy of Anil Sah. Janakpur will face Karnali Yaks in their second match on Monday, which will also be Karnali’s debut game.
This match is drawing attention as a showdown between two top international players in the NPL—Jimmy Neesham and Shikhar Dhawan. Former Indian opener Dhawan, representing Karnali Yaks, arrived in Kathmandu on Friday. He was introduced on the field during the NPL inauguration on Saturday. This is the first league Dhawan is playing outside of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Meanwhile, Neesham arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday.
