Shanti Deep Nepal is organising the first MM One Day National cricket tournament at the Inaruwa Stadium on January 5-21.

A total of 12 teams are participating in the league-cum-knockout tournament that will include seven provinces along with three departmental teams Tribhuvan Army Club, Nepal Armed Police Force Club and Nepal Police Club. They will be joined by a team of the host and one foreign invitee. “We are in talks with West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh to send a team,” said Biplav Ghosh, the tournament coordinator on Monday.

While the champion will receive Rs 401,000, the runner-up will get Rs 201,000. The losing semi-finalists will pocket Rs 25,000 each. Player-of-the-series will get Rs 51,000 with the best bowler and batsman getting Rs 20,100 apiece. Additionally, Rs 15,000 will be provided to the Fair Play team and the emerging player will take Rs 10,000.

The teams will be divided into four groups of three teams. Only the team finishing at the top of the league table will make it to the semi-finals. National cricket team coach Jagat Tamatta said the tournament will be helpful in the development of Nepali cricket. “Nepal hasn’t seen any 50-over tournament except for the Prime Minister Cup One Day National organised by the National Sports Council. Its good that a club is initiating to bring this event. This tournament will give a good reality check to the cricketers as they have spent a lot of time in Twenty20 format. The 50-over game will definitely help in building a good base of domestic cricket,” said Tamatta.

Inaruwa Municipality Mayor Rajan Mehata said the tournament will help a lot in establishing the district as a sporting venue. “Our district is quite vibrant in terms of political activities but it had always lacked sporting activity of this magnitude. I hope this tournament will help in building a good image of Inaruwa,” said Mehata.