Biratnagar Kings, one of the six franchises competing in the upcoming Dhangadhi Premier League (DPL) on Tuesday announced Shree Airlines as their title sponsor for the third edition of the Twenty20 League.

The highest cash-prized cricket tournament kicks off on Saturday with Kings taking on Sompal Kami-led Dhangadhi Stars, the defending champions. Kings owner Prafulla Vaidya thanked Shree Airlines for the association. “We have just started in terms of franchise cricket and getting joined by a corporate house is a big boost for us. We are hoping of going big in the coming days,” said Vaidya.

The franchise also announced NIC Asia Bank and New Hope Agro Business Nepal as their co-sponsors. Kings, however, didn’t revealed the sponsorship amount with all the three parties. Shree Airlines Corporate Manager Anil Manandhar said the sponsorship was just about giving continuity to their association with cricket. “We were partner of the prevision edition of DPL and we are happy to get associated with one of the teams participating this time. We are hopeful that the team does well this season,” Manandhar said.

Nepal’s fast bowling allrounder Karan KC will lead the Kings XI side as a strategic player. Sher Bahadur Lama, the former Hong Kong international, is the coach. Lama was hopeful that Kings will be able to claim the title. “We have a decent side with a mixture of allrounders and young players. Although we don’t have a list of big names at our disposal, the format of the game itself makes us believe that we can challenge all the other participating teams. There are two other foreign recruits as well who can make a difference for us. We are looking forward to the tournament,” said Lama.

Kings had announced Indian First Class cricketers Abhinash Yadav and Shivankant Shukla as their international recruits. Its mandatory for all the teams to recruit two foreign cricketers. The other players include Prithu Baskota, Aashif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Kishor Mahato, Hari Shankar Sah, Sushan Bhari Shrestha, Samsad Sheikh, Rajesh Pulami Magar, Arjun Adhikari, Amrit Gurung, Trit Raj Das and Suwash Ayer.