Pokhara Avengers Sign Sri Lanka's Sadeera Samarawickrama as Sixth Overseas Player for NPL Season 3

Pokhara Avengers have signed Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batter Sadeera Samarawickrama ahead of their opening match of Nepal Premier League Season 3, adding experience to their batting line-up and a second wicketkeeping option for the new campaign.

A sixth overseas signing for Pokhara

Pokhara Avengers have signed Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batter Sadeera Samarawickrama ahead of their opening match of the third Nepal Premier League season, adding experience to their batting line-up and wicketkeeping options. The 31-year-old right-hander arrived in Nepal on Tuesday, The Kathmandu Post reported on October 28, in time for the franchise's first match of the tournament.

His signing gives Pokhara a third Sri Lankan player and takes the team's overseas contingent to six. The signing also signals that this year's recruitment is being finished with proven international quality rather than potential alone, for a side that has missed the playoffs in both previous seasons.

Pokhara, captained by Kushal Bhurtel, face two-time finalists Sudurpaschim Royals in their opening match of the tournament on Wednesday. It is a demanding first assignment against a side that has reached the final in each of the first two seasons, and the arrival of a wicketkeeper-batter who can bat in the middle order gives Bhurtel another option when he balances the eleven.

Samarawickrama's international record

Samarawickrama has represented Sri Lanka in all three international formats, playing nine Tests, 55 one-day internationals and 19 Twenty20 internationals. He was also part of Sri Lanka's squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, a tournament that underlines how recently he has been in his country's white-ball plans.

A middle-order batter, he has featured for four different teams in the Lanka Premier League. That franchise experience matters in Nepal, where the whole tournament is played at one ground and overseas players must adapt quickly to the conditions at Kirtipur. His experience in international and franchise cricket is expected to strengthen Pokhara's batting and wicketkeeping as they seek their first NPL title, according to The Kathmandu Post report.

The wicketkeeping part of his game is as valuable as the batting: a keeper-batter lets a captain carry an extra option without weakening the side behind the stumps, and in a short tournament that flexibility can decide close matches.

Pokhara's overseas group for Season 3

Samarawickrama is the third Sri Lankan in the Pokhara squad. The franchise have retained Sri Lankan batting all-rounder Dhananjaya Lakshan, who also featured for the team last season, and signed pace-bowling all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne for the new campaign, as covered in our report on Karunaratne's signing.

The team has also recruited three Bangladesh all-rounders: former captain Shakib Al Hasan, pace-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin and spin-bowling all-rounder Mahedi Hasan. Shakib's arrival, covered in our report on the Bangladesh star joining Pokhara, remains the headline signing of Pokhara's off-season, but the balance of the group is striking: five of the six overseas players are all-rounders, with Samarawickrama the batting and wicketkeeping specialist among them.

That shape gives the Avengers options in every department, and under the league's rule of a maximum four overseas players per side, a keeper-batter makes Bhurtel's choice of four easier, not harder.

Coaching change and a playoff drought to end

The franchise has also made changes to its coaching and support staff. Former Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis has been appointed head coach, while former India international Irfan Pathan has joined as the team's cricket ambassador. A Sri Lankan head coach, a Sri Lankan core of players and a new ambassador together give this Pokhara side a distinctly different feel from the teams of the first two seasons.

Pokhara have retained experienced players while adding young Nepali talent and overseas recruits as they look to improve on their previous NPL campaigns. The team finished seventh in the inaugural edition in 2024 and fifth in 2025, missing the playoffs on both occasions. That record is the context for every signing this year: Pokhara are not short of star names, but they are still looking for a first playoff appearance, and the franchise's recruitment has been aimed squarely at ending that wait.

Samarawickrama's arrival fits that pattern: a 31-year-old international brought in to make a difference immediately, in a tournament that runs for less than a month.

Pokhara's season ahead

Pokhara's campaign starts on Wednesday against Sudurpaschim Royals, the side that lost the opening match of the season to Lumbini Lions and will be looking for their first win. It is an early test of whether this expensively assembled squad can finally carry Pokhara into the playoffs, and the NPL Season 3 schedule sets out the rest of their group fixtures through to the end of the league stage.

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 in Kirtipur. The points table will track the race for the top four and the playoffs as the tournament unfolds, and Pokhara's position after their opening games will show quickly whether the new overseas group is gelling.

The message from the signing is clear: a first playoff appearance is the immediate target, and Samarawickrama has been signed to help deliver it.