Chand Defends NPL Record in Wide-Ranging Interview

Cricket Association of Nepal president Chatur Bahadur Chand has defended the running of the Nepal Premier League in a wide-ranging interview, rejecting claims that it is a one-man show and revealing the PCB's $25,000-per-NOC demand that hit the league a day before the season began.

NPL Progress Across Three Seasons

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) president Chatur Bahadur Chand told Ratopati's 'Warpar' programme that the Nepal Premier League has improved with every edition, crediting the lessons of the first two seasons. "When we started, I don't know how much we knew, there were some errors due to not knowing," he said. "I think those shortcomings have been improving from the first to the second and from the second to the third season."

The interview, recorded during the third edition, saw Chand point to technical changes. "All the pitches have been newly made. We have hired world-class curators for the last three years," he said. "This time, we brought in DRS. This has helped improve the standard of the game, enhance the dignity of the game, and also increase the credibility of the game." DRS had been a talking point before the season: Cricnepal reported on 10 October that Chand hoped for wider ICC sanction while DRS talks were still undecided.

Chand also defended the value of ICC recognition for an associate nation, calling it "a very big thing". Asked about low scores, he pushed back, saying the eight pitches at the TU ground are of different natures. "Some might be batting pitches, some might favour bowling. They are not exactly flat wickets," he said, pointing to the opening match involving Sudurpaschim Royals, where he said the target was chased in eight or nine overs. The eight franchise teams are deep into the season.

PCB NOC Demand and Pakistan Players

The sharpest new detail concerned the Pakistan players row shadowing the season. Chand said the problem arose suddenly, one day before the competition started, when an official email demanded payment for no-objection certificates. "We have to pay $25,000 per NOC," he said. "There were eight of them, totaling $200,000, which had to be paid within 48 hours." Asked for the reason, he said there was no written explanation: "There is no written reason, it's the board's decision." Pressed on whether the PCB wanted the NPL to fail, Chand said: "On paper, there was no announcement. But it seems everyone wants their own league to remain strong, even if not explicitly stated."

The remarks add the CAN president's own account to a dispute this site has followed through the PCB NOC dispute. Chand's version puts a precise price and deadline on the demand for the first time, framing it as a last-minute shock.

Chand also addressed the foreign-player system, saying the no-auction arrangement for overseas players is a decision of the franchises and CAN's governing council, and that an auction "will also happen gradually". Asked whether CAN knows the foreign-player payment system, he answered: "Yes, but I cannot disclose it." On the complaint that Nepali emerging players sit on the bench, Chand argued the gap is one of skill: "The standard of foreign players and Nepali players has not become equal yet, based on skill."

Governing Council Authority and Leadership Questions

Chand used the interview to answer the most personal criticism aimed at the league: the claim that the NPL is a Paras Khadka show and that the president merely cuts ribbons. "No, it is not a Paras Khadka show. The management does this," he said. "Hundreds of people are involved in the management. There are experts from home and abroad." The denial matters because Khadka, the CAN secretary and Nepal's most famous cricketer, is the league's public face.

He gave the same answer to the complaint that elected CAN members have been bypassed by the Governing Council. "There is no bypassing anywhere. The authority lies with the Governing Council," he said. "They will bring this matter to the board and pass it through discussion. NPL is just one event; CAN has many such events happening."

Chand also confirmed he is the outgoing president. "Correct. Outgoing. In about 8-10 months," he said, adding that among his current colleagues, "someone capable will become president" and that he will remain a well-wisher of cricket. He did not rule out a role in international administration, saying his relationship with the international community is good and that "if friends in the international community trust me, I would certainly have that desire."

Franchise Sales, District Funding and Player Welfare

On franchise economics, the interviewer put it to Chand that owners invested millions in the first two seasons without recovering even 10 percent, and that teams are now being sold while owners withdraw. His answer rejected the idea that a franchise can change hands. "This is not like selling shop goods. To whom will they sell? CAN handles everything," he said. "It should be CAN's responsibility. They cannot sell to anyone they wish."

Chand was equally firm on the complaint that money sits with CAN while districts cannot find even one or two lakh rupees to run events. "Money has gone to the districts for the first time since Chatur Bahadur Chand became president," he said. "In the history of Nepali cricket, no district had an account, nor had any money directly gone from CAN to any district."

On player welfare and financial safeguards, Chand said CAN has taken full responsibility for treating any player seriously injured during the competition, and repeated his push for a 'happy exit policy'. He said ICC recognition required checks on team owners' backgrounds, and that for two seasons CAN had taken bank guarantees, though he did not know the exact current salary-guarantee rule. On transparency itself, his answer was blunt: "It is public, why wouldn't it be? Everything is public." He said the accounts will be publicised through a general assembly, or a board meeting if it is delayed, in an understandable way. That promise will be tested against the questions over NPL accounts already in public debate.

Analysis: A Mid-Tournament Defence of the NPL Record

Read as a whole, this interview is less an announcement than a defence, delivered when the league most needs one. Chand chose a long-form conversation, rather than a press release, to answer the criticisms that have followed the NPL into its third season: that its governance is opaque, that its most famous administrator runs it alone, that its franchises lose money. His answers are confident on cricket operations, where DRS and new pitches are visible evidence, and more procedural on governance, where the answer is usually that the proper process exists.

That split is the most revealing part of the interview. On the field, Chand can point to what has already happened. Off it, the big items remain promises: formal ICC sanction is still awaited, the accounts are to be publicised rather than already published in full, and the franchise economics question was answered with a rule about who controls sales rather than with numbers. With Chand leaving in 8-10 months, the next president will inherit both the league's momentum and its unresolved files.

For fans, the meaning is simpler. The league's leadership has publicly committed itself, on the record, to open accounts, to district funding, to injured players' treatment and to a controlled franchise market. Those commitments are now measurable. Karnali Yaks sit top of the points table with Janakpur Bolts second after Match 9, and the schedule rolls on into Monday's double-header. What Chand said will be judged against what happens next, on the live scores and in the boardroom.