Sandeep Lamichhane sits at the top of the publicly reported earnings list among Nepali cricketers, combining a Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) Category A+ retainer, a Biratnagar Kings marquee role in the Nepal Premier League, and a US$20,000 Lanka Premier League contract for 2026.

CAN placed Lamichhane, national captain Rohit Paudel, and Dipendra Singh Airee in the new men’s A+ grade when it published the 2026 central contracts in May. Players in that grade receive Rs 120,000 a month. Category A is set at Rs 100,000, Category B at Rs 75,000, Category C at Rs 55,000, and the Development grade at Rs 35,000. Match fees sit on top of the retainer: Rs 10,000 for a T20I and Rs 15,000 for an ODI.

Those retainers are only one part of the picture. Franchise deals, especially NPL contracts and overseas league fees, now separate the leading earners from the rest of the contracted group.

What the leading players are reported to earn

• Player CAN grade (2026) monthly CAN retainer NPL role Confirmed overseas fee
• Sandeep Lamichhane A+ Rs 120,000 Biratnagar Kings marquee, LPL 2026, Jaffna Kings, US$20,000
• Dipendra Singh Airee A+ Rs 120,000 Sudurpaschim Royals marquee LPL 2026, Jaffna Kings, US$15,000
• Rohit Paudel, A+ Rs 120,000 Lumbini Lions marquee Not reported for LPL 2026
• Kushal Bhurtel: A Rs 100,000 Pokhara Avengers marquee LPL 2026, Colombo Caps, US $15,000
• Aasif Sheikh A Rs 100,000 Lumbini Lions (auction) Not reported
• Kushal Malla C Rs 55,000 Chitwan Rhinos marquee Not reported

Lamichhane’s edge is the overseas market. He was signed by Jaffna Kings in the Classic category of the 1 June 2026 Lanka Premier League draft at US$20,000. He has also played in the IPL, the Big Bash League, and the Caribbean Premier League in previous seasons, so his current-year figure does not capture earlier franchise income. Nepal News, in a 1 October report, listed his NPL marquee contract at Rs 2 million, matching the marquee valuation CAN set when the league’s player structure was first announced. Individual retention fees for Season 3 have not been published separately by the franchises.

Airee is on the same CAN grade and is Sudurpaschim Royals’ retained marquee. He was also drafted by the Jaffna Kings as an Associate Star at US$15,000, a deal the 1 October earnings round-up did not include. He has previously appeared in Global T20 Canada and the ILT20.

Paudel, the ODI captain and Lumbini Lions marquee, is in the same A+ band. Away from the field, he has put cricket income into Seventeen Beans Cafe in Buddhanagar, Kathmandu, which he has said is run day to day by his family. That business interest is separate from his playing contracts and is not part of the CAN or NPL figures.

Bhurtel, a Category A player on Rs 100,000 a month, is Pokhara Avengers’ marquee and was signed by Colombo Caps in the LPL Associate Star category at US$15,000. Malla remains Chitwan Rhinos’ marquee despite a lower central contract: he is in Category C at Rs 55,000 a month. His NPL status shows how franchise value and national-contract grade do not always move together.

The clearest auction number from this cycle belongs to Aasif Sheikh. Released by Janakpur Bolts before the retention deadline, he was the most expensive player at the 6 July 2026 NPL Season 3 auction in Kathmandu, joining Lumbini Lions for Rs 20 lakh after seven franchises matched the top bid and a lucky draw decided the signing. As a Category A player, he is on Rs 100,000 a month from CAN, or Rs 1.2 million over a full year, before match fees or endorsements. The other four Category A auction players each went for Rs 15 lakh.

None of these figures is take-home pay. Taxes, agent commissions, and any unpaid commercial deals are not itemized in the CAN announcement or the auction results. Endorsement income is also unpublished, so Lamichhane leads the list of reported cricket earnings rather than a verified net-worth ranking.

NPL Season 3 begins on 26 October at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur and runs to the final on 21 November. The opening match pairs Lumbini Lions, with Paudel as marquee and Sheikh as the Rs 20 lakh signing, against Sudurpaschim Royals and Airee. Lamichhane’s Biratnagar Kings meet Malla’s Chitwan Rhinos in the first match on 27 October.