Ultimate Sports Management (USM), a Chandigarh-based sports management company, on Sunday claimed to bring the first Asian Premier League (APL) Twenty20 cricket tournament featuring current and former international cricketers at the Tribhuvan University grounds.

The organisers announced a six-team tournament from June 19 to July 4. The six franchises include India Stars, Nepal Storm, Bangladesh Tigers, Afghanistan Bulls, Sri Lankan Lions and Dubai Warriors. RS Dandiwal, the chairman of APL T20,  at the announcement ceremony on Sunday. Swapnil Patil, a cricketer from the United Arab Emirates, will lead Nepal Storm with England cricketer Dimitri Mascarenhas as the mentor of the team.

The USM claims to have taken permission from International Cricket Council and National Sports Council, Nepal’s supreme sports governing, to organise the event in Nepal. Doubts over the event remain after APL announcement, considering that ICC had opposed organising a similar event by a private company in the past. An NSC official in a condition of anonymity said: “Member Secretary Keshav Bista had consented to provide the venue impulsively but with ICC making inquiry, the event may be in doubt. 

The organisers claims to telecast live all the matches in the international sports broadcaster Sony Six, including players’ auction at Hotel  Annapurna on Monday. In all, 108 players will be auctioned including 20 international cricketers. Former Hong Kong player Haseeb Amjad and Bangladeshi paceman Al-Amin Hossain, who is set to captain the Tigers, were presented during the press meet on Sunday. Interestingly, if the tournament goes on as planned, there may not be a single Nepali player to represent Nepal. 

As the organisers had asked for an online application for the auction, none of the Nepali players may have applied for the event. The tournament was previous planned for Sharjah. The USM did not clarify whether the event will have any Nepali players, while also keeping in dark about the owners of the franchises.

Grade 1, 2 and 3 players are set the base price of Rs 48,000, Rs 32,000 and Rs 16,000. The eventual winners will earn Rs 4 million and the runners-up will bag Rs 1.6 million. The man-of-the-series will ride home a car. Top four teams will make it to the semi-finals.