Karunaratne Takes Over as Pokhara Avengers Captain

Pokhara Avengers have handed the captaincy to Chamika Karunaratne, replacing Kushal Bhurtel in the middle of the Nepal Premier League Season 3. The change took effect in Friday's Match 17 against Chitwan Rhinos at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur on 6 November 2026, where Karunaratne won the toss and chose to bowl first. It is the second mid-season leadership change of the tournament, and it arrives with Pokhara still searching for their first win.

A change made after four straight defeats

Bhurtel led Pokhara from the start of the season, but the results never came. The Avengers lost their opening match to Janakpur Bolts by nine runs on 1 November, when Bhurtel top-scored with 35 off 24 balls, and they were beaten by eight wickets by Lumbini Lions on 3 November, when he made 14. By the time Match 17 came around, Pokhara had lost four matches in a row and sat bottom of the table with no points, and the team management decided a change was needed at the top.

Karunaratne is the Sri Lankan pace-bowling all-rounder Pokhara signed as their third overseas player for the season, and he has been one of their most consistent performers with the ball. He took two wickets for 23 runs in three overs against Janakpur, top-scored with 25 when Pokhara were restricted to 97 for nine against Lumbini, and he was the natural choice to take the armband when the leadership changed. His first act as captain was to win the toss and send Chitwan in to bat, a decision that said plenty about how he wants his team to play: chase the game, back the bowlers, and take the pressure off a batting line-up that has struggled to post competitive totals.

The timing of the change also reflects how quickly the tournament moves. With only seven league matches per team, there is no room for a long slump, and Pokhara have already used up four of theirs. A new captain cannot fix a batting order on his own, but he can change the tone of a dressing room, and that is what the Avengers are counting on.

Karunaratne's first match in charge

The first match of Karunaratne's captaincy did not bring the win Pokhara needed, but it showed why the team turned to him. Chitwan, put in to bat, made 151 for six in their 20 overs, built on a 60-run opening stand between Arjun Saud, who made 31 off 27 balls, and Dawid Malan, who made 28 off 28. The innings was then shaped by the two most experienced men in the middle order: captain Sikandar Raza, who struck 37 off 16 balls with two fours and four sixes, and Ravi Bopara, who made 35 off 28, the pair adding 60 for the fifth wicket.

Karunaratne led from the front with the ball, taking two wickets for 34 runs in his four overs, and he was one of three Pokhara bowlers to take two wickets, alongside Bipin Khatri and Bhurtel himself. It was a solid bowling effort on a ground where 151 is a competitive total rather than a commanding one, and at the halfway stage Pokhara had a chase they could win.

The chase, though, followed the pattern of Pokhara's season. Arjun Kumal held the innings together with 45 off 44 balls, and Yuvraj Samra, the Canadian batter brought into the side for this match, made 19 off 14. But Bhurtel fell for four in the opening over, Sadeera Samarawickrama made four, and the middle order never recovered. At 103 for four in the 15th over, Pokhara needed 49 from 32 balls with wickets in hand. They lost their last six wickets for 18 runs and were bowled out for 121 in 19 overs, beaten by 30 runs. Rijan Dhakal took four wickets for Chitwan and was named player of the match, while Kamal Singh Airee claimed three for seven from two overs.

There were other changes in the Pokhara side for the match. Shakib Al Hasan, the biggest name in the squad, was left out of the playing eleven, while Samra, Sagar Dhakal and Sudip Aryal came in. It was a selection that signalled the new captain and the team management are willing to make hard calls, and it will be watched closely in the matches that follow.

Raza keeps leading Chitwan

While Pokhara changed captains, Chitwan Rhinos stayed with theirs. Sikandar Raza continues to lead the Rhinos, a role he took over from Ravi Bopara in the team's third match of the season. Bopara had captained Chitwan in their first two matches, and Raza replaced him on Monday, 2 November, bringing his experience as one of the most capped T20 players in the world to the job.

The move has worked. Raza's 37 off 16 balls in Match 17 was the innings that lifted Chitwan from a decent total to a winning one, and his partnership with Bopara, the man he replaced as captain, showed that the change was handled well inside the dressing room. Chitwan moved into third place in the table with five points after the win, and they look a settled side with a clear leader.

The contrast between the two teams is sharp. Chitwan made a change early, backed it, and have climbed the table. Pokhara waited until four defeats had passed before acting, and now their new captain has three league matches left to turn the season around.

What the change means for Pokhara

The numbers explain why Pokhara acted. Four matches, four defeats, no points, and a net run rate of minus 1.679, the worst in the league. Their playoff hopes are hanging by a thread, and realistically they now need to win all three of their remaining league matches and hope other results go their way. That is a steep climb, but it is not impossible in a tournament where every team still has to play each other and the table can change in a weekend.

Karunaratne brings two things Pokhara have lacked: wickets with the new ball and calm at the top of the order. He has taken wickets in every match he has played this season, and his 25 against Lumbini, when no other Pokhara batter passed 14, showed he can hold an innings together when the top order fails. As captain, he will also have a say in selection, and the decision to leave out Shakib for Match 17 suggests the team is prepared to pick on current form rather than reputation.

The bigger question is the batting. Pokhara have been bowled out for 97, 136 and 121 in three of their four matches, and no total they have posted has been enough. Bhurtel's own form is part of that story: after his 35 against Janakpur, he has managed 14 and four, and the pressure of leading a winless side clearly weighed on him. Freed from the captaincy, he may bat with more freedom, and Pokhara need him to, because their overseas stars alone cannot carry the batting.

There is also the matter of the overseas balance. Pokhara's squad is built around Shakib, Karunaratne, Mahedi Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin, but only a limited number of overseas players can play in each match, and the team have yet to find the right combination. Karunaratne, as captain, will now have the final say on that balance, and the next three matches will show whether his judgement is better than the one that produced four straight defeats.

The wider picture

Two teams have now changed captains in the first fortnight of NPL Season 3, and both changes tell the same story: this is a short, sharp tournament, and teams cannot afford to wait. Chitwan acted after two matches and have risen to third. Pokhara acted after four, and their new captain has no margin left at all. The next round of matches will show whether the change came in time.

For Karunaratne, the task is simple to state and hard to deliver: win three matches in a row, starting now, and give Pokhara something to play for in the final week of the league stage. For Bhurtel, the task is to rediscover the batting form that made him Pokhara's first-choice captain in the first place. The two men will decide, between them, whether the Avengers' season has a second act.

The tournament moves on quickly. Kathmandu Gorkhas meet Lumbini Lions in Match 18 on Saturday, 7 November 2026, and Pokhara's next outing will come soon after. By then, the new captain will have had a few days to work with his squad, and the Avengers will know whether their boldest call of the season has given them a fresh start or simply confirmed that the damage was already done.