The first season of the campaign, known as the Nepal Premier League (NPL), started on Saturday, November 30 at Kirtipur in Kathmandu, thus giving a boost to the game of cricket in Nepal. This year’s event promises to be exciting, especially with the addition of Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, who will be playing under the Karnali Yaks banner.
Dhawan’s participation in the NPL is particularly a big boost for the tournament because of his past performances with the Indian national team. He earlier in the year declared retirement from cricket for a player that featured in 34 Test matches, 167 ODIs, and 68 T20Is. Dhawan is also the second-highest run-maker in Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket.
Kuldeep Dhawan’s latest playing journey was in the 2024 IPL season, where he led the Punjab Kings (PBKS) during the first five games and then got injured and did not play the remaining season. The notification on his involvement in the NPL would highly likely attract huge traffic and interest in the tournament and the general development of cricket in Nepal.
Why Shikhar Dhawan can’t play in the IPL 2025
The big highlights of the season have been the comeback of Shikhar Dhawan into cricket through the Nepal Premier League (NPL), but what is shocking is that he cannot play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) anymore. In fact, Dhawan has lost his availability for any cricket being played at any level of cricket at home, including the national level. This is in consistent with BICCI policies, which do not allow any India players to play in any overseas T20 leagues.
For any Indian player who plays any T20 leagues outside the IPL and SMAT, he cannot play for India or any league under BCCI. Hence, if any player wants to play in an overseas league, he has to retire from Indian cricket.
Given this situation, choosing to play for the NPL has killed his chances of representing India or playing in any competition back home. Despite that, his participation is likely to add interest and glamour to the NPL and help propel the development of cricket in Nepal.
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