Pokhara Avengers Sign Sri Lanka's Chamika Karunaratne as Third Overseas Player for NPL Season 3

Pokhara Avengers have signed Sri Lankan pace-bowling all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne as their third overseas player for Nepal Premier League Season 3, adding international experience to a squad that has missed the playoffs in both previous editions.

A third overseas name for Pokhara

Pokhara Avengers confirmed their third overseas signing of the season with the arrival of Chamika Karunaratne, the Sri Lankan all-rounder whose aggressive seam bowling and lower-order hitting have made him a familiar figure in franchise cricket. The signing was reported by Online Khabar on October 18, continuing a busy recruitment drive by the franchise ahead of the October 26 start.

Karunaratne joins an overseas group that already carries serious pedigree. Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan, one of the most experienced all-rounders in world cricket, will play in the NPL for the first time this season, while Sri Lankan all-rounder Dhananjaya Lakshan returns for a second consecutive campaign with the Avengers. With former Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis as head coach, Pokhara have built a distinctly experienced core around captain Kushal Bhurtel.

Karunaratne's road to the NPL

Born on 29 May 1996 and educated at Royal College, Colombo, Karunaratne made his Test debut against Australia in February 2019 before breaking into Sri Lanka's white-ball sides in 2021. He was part of the squads at the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups and the Sri Lanka team that lifted the 2022 Asia Cup in the UAE, and he has produced match-winning all-round performances in one-day internationals, including a player-of-the-match display against Australia in 2022 and a four-wicket haul against New Zealand at Eden Park in March 2023.

His franchise record stretches across Asia. Kolkata Knight Riders bought him at the 2022 IPL auction, he has represented several Lanka Premier League teams including Dambulla and Kandy, and he turned out for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20. According to the reports announcing his Pokhara move, he recently represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Games in Japan. Like every foreign player in Season 3, he will require a No Objection Certificate from his home board under the ICC conditions confirmed by CAN.

What he adds to the Avengers

Pokhara's need is clear. The franchise finished outside the playoff places in each of the first two NPL seasons, and their recruitment this year has targeted exactly the areas that cost them: new-ball and death-overs pace, and batting depth in the lower middle order. Karunaratne offers both in one player. He bowls with genuine pace and hostility, hits the ball hard late in an innings, and is an athletic fielder — a combination that lets captain Kushal Bhurtel balance the XI within the league's rule of a maximum four overseas players per side.

Alongside Nepali seamer Aakash Chand and the medium pace of Lakshan, Karunaratne gives Mendis a varied seam attack for Kirtipur's surfaces, while his presence alongside Shakib means Pokhara can field two international all-rounders without sacrificing bowling overs. His experience of subcontinental franchise leagues should also ease his adjustment to Nepali conditions.

A sportsman beyond cricket

Karunaratne arrives with one of the more unusual sporting backgrounds in the tournament. Before cricket took over, he was a junior national champion in the javelin and competed in badminton at national level, coming from a family steeped in Sri Lankan sport. That multi-sport athleticism shows in his fielding, which has produced some spectacular boundary efforts for Sri Lanka.

His career has not been without interruption — he returned to international cricket after serving a suspended one-year ban handed down by Sri Lanka Cricket in late 2022 — but at 30 he remains a combative, whole-hearted cricketer whose best years in short-format leagues may still be ahead of him. Pokhara will hope the NPL gives him the stage to prove it.

Pokhara's season ahead

The Avengers have kept faith with a strong domestic core around their overseas names. Marquee player Kushal Bhurtel leads a retained group that includes Sagar Dhakal, Arjun Kumal, Bipin Khatri, Aakash Chand, Kiran Thagunna and Dinesh Kharel, and the franchise added further local depth at the auction. Under the Season 3 rules, squads may register up to eight overseas players, so Pokhara could yet add to their foreign contingent before the tournament begins.

Their campaign starts on October 28 against last season's runners-up Sudurpaschim Royals at Kirtipur — an early test of whether this expensively assembled squad can finally carry Pokhara into the playoffs. The third edition of the Nepal Premier League runs from October 26 to November 21, with all matches at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground.