NPL Season 3 Auction | July 6, 2026

Auction archive

The Nepal Premier League Season 3 auction took place on July 6, 2026. Aasif Sheikh was listed at NPR 20 lakh for Lumbini Lions.

Auction snapshot and source differences · Squad comparison

Reports and current rosters

Reports disagree about aggregate sold and unsold counts. The dated auction report preserves the news record; the team directory separates retentions, auction listings and later overseas signings.

NPL Season 3 Mega Auction Day: 6 July 2026

The Nepal Premier League Season 3 mega auction took place on 6 July 2026, the day the eight franchises built the domestic cores of their squads. It followed the retention window, in which teams kept part of their previous squads — 52 players were retained across the league, per the June 2026 retention reports — and it preceded the overseas signings that completed the rosters later in the year.

The headline deal of the day was Aasif Sheikh going to the Lumbini Lions at NPR 20 lakh, the standout bid reported from the auction floor. Each franchise worked within its purse and squad-slot limits, balancing established internationals-in-waiting, proven domestic performers and emerging talent from the pathway.

The auction only covers the domestic player pool. International slots were filled separately through direct overseas signings — including David Warner (Kathmandu Gorkhas), Shakib Al Hasan (Pokhara Avengers), Jimmy Neesham (Janakpur Bolts) and Charith Asalanka (Biratnagar Kings) — so the auction-day squad is never the final tournament squad.

Retentions, auction picks and overseas signings

This website's directories keep three recruitment routes strictly separate, because each means something different:

• Retentions: players a franchise kept from its previous squad before the auction.
• Auction listings: domestic players bought at the 6 July 2026 auction, with reported bid values where verified.
• Overseas signings: international players signed directly, outside the auction.

A player appearing in one list is not automatically in the others, and none of the three guarantees a place in the playing XI — that is decided at the toss on match day. See the auction directory, the team rosters and the player directory.

Following the squads to the tournament

The auction was one step in a longer build-up: retentions in June, the mega auction on 6 July, overseas announcements through the summer, and the full fixture list on 20 September 2026. The season itself runs 26 October–21 November 2026 at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.

Dated auction coverage lives in the news archive. For the current state of every squad, use the reviewed team pages — they carry sources for each retention, auction pick and overseas signing, and they flag where reports disagree instead of presenting one version as final.

Auction results by team

The completed auction record lists 155 players in the July 6 pool, of whom 53 were sold for a combined NPR 244.25 lakh. The live blog's running tally late in the evening put the count at 37 sold and 118 unsold, which is one reason the aggregate figures are flagged above as disputed; the team-by-team sales below follow the completed record. The full player-by-player list is on the auction page, and the day itself was covered in the news report Nepal Premier League player auction begins Season 3.

Lumbini Lions were the biggest spenders, paying NPR 44 lakh for six players. Wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh alone cost them NPR 20 lakh, bowler Kishor Mahato went for NPR 10 lakh, and batter Aakash Tripathi and bowler Durgesh Gupta signed at their NPR 5 lakh base price each. Ajay Chauhan and Arniko Prasad Yadav completed the Lions' auction business at NPR 2 lakh apiece.

Janakpur Bolts bought the joint-highest number of players, eight, for a combined NPR 41.25 lakh. Batter Trit Raj Das led their spending at NPR 15 lakh, followed by Abhisekh Tiwari, Amar Singh Rautela and Bishal Kumar Patel at NPR 5 lakh each. Rit Gautam cost NPR 4.25 lakh, Santosh Karki NPR 3 lakh, and Aashutosh Pandey and Bishal Susling NPR 2 lakh each.

Biratnagar Kings also bought eight players, spending NPR 37.25 lakh in total. Allrounder Rupesh Kumar Singh was their headline signing at NPR 15 lakh, with Dilsad Ali and Naren Saud at NPR 5 lakh each and Sujan Thapaliya at NPR 4.25 lakh. Aprajit Poudel, Imran Shekh, Prajwal Thapa and Pratik Shrestha each joined at the NPR 2 lakh base price.

Pokhara Avengers spent NPR 26.75 lakh on six players. Wicketkeeper Arjun Gharti accounted for more than half of that outlay at NPR 15 lakh. The rest of their buying was done at the lower end of the market: Sudip Aryal at NPR 3 lakh, Bibek Kumar Rana Magar at NPR 2.75 lakh, and Bipin Acharya, Pratik Pokharel and Sunny BK at NPR 2 lakh each.

Chitwan Rhinos paid NPR 26 lakh for six players. Allrounder Bibek Kumar Yadav was their big purchase at NPR 15 lakh, while their remaining five signings all came from Category C: Mausam Dhakal at NPR 3 lakh, and Ashok Dhami, Bipin Rawal, Gautam KC and Salahuddin Khan at NPR 2 lakh apiece.

Karnali Yaks also spent NPR 26 lakh on six players, but spread it differently. Batter Shubh Kansakar was their top buy at NPR 10 lakh, double his base price, with Bipin Prasad Sharma and Dipendra Rawat at NPR 5 lakh each. Diwan Pun, Sachin Sharma and Surya Tamang completed their auction squad at NPR 2 lakh each.

Sudurpaschim Royals matched that NPR 26 lakh total across six players. Wicketkeeper Dipak Bohara was their most expensive signing at NPR 10 lakh, again double his base price, followed by Anil Kharel and Milan Bohara at NPR 5 lakh each and Ayub Chand, Sachin Bhatta and Tek Rawat at NPR 2 lakh each.

Kathmandu Gorkhas were the lightest spenders of the day, buying seven players for just NPR 17 lakh. Every Gorkhas purchase was made exactly at base price: Sahil Patel at his NPR 5 lakh Category B base, and Dayanand Mandal, Dev Shah, Krishna Paudel, Prashiddha Jaishi, Sonu Devkota and Suryanshu Koirala at the NPR 2 lakh Category C base.

Biggest buys

The standout deal of the auction was Aasif Sheikh to the Lumbini Lions for NPR 20 lakh. Sheikh, a Category A wicketkeeper with a base price of NPR 15 lakh, was billed in the live coverage as the day's "big fish", and his fee was the only one to reach the NPR 20 lakh mark. He was one of five Category A players in the pool — and all five were sold.

Four of those Category A sales closed at NPR 15 lakh against a base price of NPR 10 lakh: wicketkeeper Arjun Gharti to Pokhara Avengers, allrounder Bibek Kumar Yadav to Chitwan Rhinos, allrounder Rupesh Kumar Singh to Biratnagar Kings and batter Trit Raj Das to Janakpur Bolts. The Rupesh Kumar Singh deal was the most contested of the day: four teams bid for him, and the live coverage records that he went to the Kings only after a lucky draw.

Below Category A, three Category B players doubled their NPR 5 lakh base price to sell for NPR 10 lakh: wicketkeeper Dipak Bohara to Sudurpaschim Royals — a deal the live blog described as two teams going neck and neck — bowler Kishor Mahato to Lumbini Lions and batter Shubh Kansakar to Karnali Yaks. Most other business was done at base price, although two Category C players moved above theirs: Rit Gautam and Sujan Thapaliya each fetched NPR 4.25 lakh, to Janakpur Bolts and Biratnagar Kings respectively.

Retained players

Neither auction record names the retained players, and that gap is structural rather than an omission. The live coverage itself billed the July 6 event as the Mini Auction of NPL Season 3: the players who went under the hammer were the ones franchises had not kept, so the completed record's 155 names are the auction pool only. Players retained from the previous season stayed with their franchises without entering the bidding, which is why no name, team or price for a retained player appears in either the auction snapshot or the live timeline.

For the same reason, this page does not attach auction prices to retained players, and any list that does should be treated with caution. Retention details sit with the squad records rather than the auction record: the team pages separate retentions from auction listings and overseas signings, and the auction directory keeps the July 6 sales on their own. The distinction matters when the tournament starts, because a retained player and an auction buy arrive in the same squad by very different routes.