Chitwan Tigers on Saturday unveiled three Indian cricketers as their international recruits for this seasons Everest Premier League (EPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament which is scheduled to begin from Monday.

Uttar Pradesh cricketer Praveen Gupta is the most experienced among the three foreign signings for Tigers. Gupta, who featured in the 2002 U-19 World Cup, is a slow left arm bowler and has the experience of playing in 53 first class matches. The 31-year old has taken 122 first class wickets and has also played 46 List A matches and 12 Twenty20s.

Two other recruits Shavez Khan of Delhi and Pramesh Kumar of Hariyana have played club level events. Both players had joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) camp but didn’t get opportunity to feature in the money-spinning cricket tournament. Laltipur Patriots and Kathmandu Kings XI have already unveiled their international recruits. 

Former Sri Lankan cricketer Farveez Maharoof is so far the biggest international name associated with EPL. Maharoof has been named the skipper of Kings XI, while former Delhi Daredevils—an IPL outfit—player Yogesh Nagar is the big name in Patriots squad. 

Dipendra Singh Airee is the marquee player in the Tigers squad which will be led by former U-19 skipper Prithu Baskota. Anil Mandal, Lalit Singh Bhandari and Dilip Nath are other players who have been playing for the Nepali team. Tigers have included Aakash Thapa through talent hunt programme in their 15-man final squad for EPL.

Sunam Gautam, Sandeep Sunar, Yogendra Singh Karki, Bhim Sharki, Kamal Singh Airee and Shahab Alam are other members in the team. According to EPL regulations, every team must recruit three international cricketers and one player from talent hunt programme.

Prithu gets team backing

KATHMANDU: Chitwan Tigers on Saturday backed their skipper Prithu Baskota who has been in police custody in forgery case. Baskota, the former U-19 skipper, was arrested on Thursday along with seven others for failing to stage a live performance from American DJ Marshmello after selling tickets. The programme was scheduled for Wednesday at Club Déjà vu where Baskota is a share holder. Angry club goers had vandalised the club after Marshmello didn’t show up. The DJ had later apologised and said he was having health issues.

“What we need to make very clear is that Prithu is a share holder of the club and not operator. We don’t think that a share holder needs to be held accountable for a failed programme that was organised by some other event management company. Prithu is our skipper and we are sure that he will be freed because he has no involvement in that case,” said Chitwan Tigers owner Kishor Bhattarai. (PR)