CAN awards central contracts to 30 men, 19 women cricketers

KATHMANDU: Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has awarded central contracts to 30 men and 19 women cricketers.

A board meeting of the CAN, which concluded on Monday, also confirmed the monthly salaries for cricketers under the central contract.

Issuing a statement, CAN said men cricketers have been categorized into six pools. Grade A and B each comprise six cricketers, Grade C includes four, Grade D consists of seven, and the Emerging category comprises seven cricketers.

CAN has announced that cricketers in Grade A will receive Rs 100,000 per month, while those in Grades B, C, and D will be paid monthly salaries of Rs 70,000, Rs 55,000, and Rs 35,000, respectively. Cricketers in the Emerging category will receive Rs 25,000 monthly.

Similarly, women cricketers have been classified into five grades. Grade A comprises three players, Grade B includes one, Grade C has five, and the Emerging category comprises eight cricketers.

Cricketers in Grade A will receive a monthly salary of Rs 50,000, while those in Grades B, C, and D will receive Rs 35,000, Rs 30,000, and Rs 25,000, respectively. Cricketers in the Emerging category will be paid Rs 20,000 each per month.

The board meeting also nominated Diwakar Ghale as the coordinator of the Tournament Committee, Bikram Bista as the coordinator of the Technical Committee, Dhirendra Saud as the coordinator of the Development Committee, and Pradip Majgaiya as the coordinator of the Women’s Cricket Development Committee.

Likewise, Gyanendra Malla and Kalam Ali have been named as the Head Coach and Coach, respectively, of the Nepal A team, while Mahesh Prasad Rijal has been named as the Coach of the U-19 Women’s Team.

CAN has also decided to organize the U16 Women’s Inter-School Talent Hunt and Training Program in all seven provinces to prepare for the 2027 ICC U19 World Cup, which Nepal is hosting.

Men Cricketers

Grade A – Rohit Paudel, Sompal Kami, Dipendra Singh Airee, Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel

Grade B – Kushal Malla, Gulshan Jha, Bhim Sarki, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Abhinash Bohora

Grade C – Binod Bhandari, Arjun Saud, Sandeep Jora, Pratish JC

Grade D – Pawan Sarraf, Sagar Dhakal, Anil Sah, Bivek Kumar Yadav, Akash Chand, Bashir Ahmed, Surya Tamang

Emerging – Dipesh Kandel, Rupesh Singh, Rijan Dhakal, Bipin Khatri, Dev Khanal, Arjun Gharti, Hemant Dhami

Women Cricketers

Grade A – Indu Verma, Rubeena Chhetri, Sita Rana Magar

Grade B – Kabita Kunwar

Grade C – Pooja Mahato, Ashmina Karmacharya

Grade D – Apsara Begum, Kavita Joshi, Sangeeta Rai, Kajol Shrestha, Bindu Rawal

Emerging – Soni Pakhrin, Khushi Dangol, Jyotsnika Marasini, Kanchan Shrestha, Ruby Poddar, Srishti Jaishi, Samjhana Kumari Khadka, Sana Praveen