NPL Auction Season 3
Sold & Unsold Players, Team Squads and Results — Kathmandu, July 6, 2026
Date
July 6, 2026
Player pool
155
Registered
347
Teams
8
Location
Kathmandu
The Siddhartha Bank NPL Auction, powered by Ncell, wrapped up in Kathmandu on July 6, 2026, with all eight Season 3 franchises walking away with rebuilt squads ahead of the November 17 – December 13 tournament window. This guide breaks down exactly what happened at the auction—every Category A sale, each team's final purse position, the rules that shaped the bidding, and the context you need to understand how Season 3 squads came together.
The NPL Season 3 auction was held on July 6, 2026, in Kathmandu. Of 155 shortlisted players, 53 were sold for a combined NPR 244.25 lakh. Aasif Sheikh was the top buy at NPR 20 lakh (Lumbini Lions), with the remaining four Category A players — Arjun Gharti, Bibek Kumar Yadav, Rupesh Kumar Singh, and Trit Raj Das — each selling for NPR 15 lakh.
NPL Auction 2026 at a Glance
| Auction date | July 6, 2026 |
| Venue | Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Organizer | Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) |
| Title sponsor | Siddhartha Bank, powered by Ncell |
| Auctioneer | Devendra Subedi |
| Players registered | 347 |
| Players shortlisted | 155 (5 A, 27 B, 123 C) |
| Players sold | 53 |
| Players unsold | 102 |
| Total amount spent | NPR 244.25 lakh |
| Combined purse | NPR 373 lakh |
| Top buy | Aasif Sheikh — NPR 20 lakh (Lumbini Lions) |
| NPL Season 3 dates | November 17 – December 13, 2026 |
| Format | 8 teams, 32 matches, double round-robin + playoffs |
Registration, Shortlisting & Retention Rules
Player registration for Season 3 opened June 26, 2026, and closed July 1, 2026, at a fee of NPR 1,000 for domestic players and agents. From 347 total registrations, CAN shortlisted 155 players for the actual auction floor.
Three domestic categories
| Category | Base price | Bidding range | Shortlisted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category A | NPR 10 lakh | Up to NPR 15 lakh | 5 |
| Category B | NPR 5 lakh | NPR 5–10 lakh | 27 |
| Category C | NPR 2 lakh | NPR 2–5 lakh | 123 |
Retention rules
Each franchise could retain up to 7 players from its Season 2 roster, including exactly one marquee player, before entering the auction. Every squad builds toward a 16-player roster — which is why purses varied so much walking in.
The auction floor
Categories were auctioned in descending order — A, then B, then C — with a roughly 30-minute break partway through Category B. When multiple franchises tied on a bid, CAN used a lucky draw to break the deadlock (for Dipak Bohara and Rupesh Kumar Singh).
Auction Results at a Glance
Of the 155 players who made the shortlist, 53 found a team and 102 went unsold. That's a sell-through rate of roughly 34% — lower than the excitement around the marquee names might suggest, and a useful reality check for anyone assuming most shortlisted players get picked up.
Category A
5/5
100% sold
NPR 80 lakh
Category B
15/27
~56% sold
3 at NPR 10L ceiling
Category C
33/123
~27% sold
Deepest pool
League Total
53/155
~34% sold
NPR 244.25 lakh spent
The Five Marquee Sales
All five Category A players sold on auction day. Aasif Sheikh was the only player above NPR 15 lakh.
Notable Buys Beyond Category A
Category B ceiling buys (NPR 10 lakh)
- Dipak Bohara → Sudurpaschim Royals10L 🎲
- Kishor Mahato → Lumbini Lions10L
- Shubh Kansakar → Karnali Yaks10L
Category C standouts
- Rit Gautam → Janakpur Bolts4.25L
- Sujan Thapaliya → Biratnagar Kings4.25L
- Sachin Bhatta → Sudurpaschim RoyalsFirst sale of the day · 2L
Other confirmed Category B sales (NPR 5 lakh, base price): Bipin Prasad Sharma (Karnali Yaks), Anil Kharel (Sudurpaschim Royals), Bishal Kumar Patel (Janakpur Bolts), Abhishek Tiwari (Janakpur Bolts), Amar Singh Routela (Janakpur Bolts), Aakash Tripathi (Lumbini Lions).
Category C standout buys: Rit Gautam and Sujan Thapaliya both went for NPR 4.25 lakh — the highest Category C prices of the day — to Janakpur Bolts and Biratnagar Kings respectively. Most of the remaining 31 Category C sales settled between NPR 2 lakh and NPR 3 lakh, close to base price, including Santosh Karki, Mausam Dhakal, Sudip Aryal, and Sachin Bhatta, who was the very first player sold on the day.
Team-by-Team Purse Breakdown
Latest snapshot: 53 sold players, 102 unsold, NPR 244.25 lakh spent across all franchises.
Squad 8/16
Spent
NPR 37.25L
Left
NPR 14.25L
Marquee: Sandeep Lamichhane, Lokesh Bam
Squad 6/16
Spent
NPR 26.00L
Left
NPR 16.50L
Marquee: Dipendra Singh Airee
| Team | Squad | Spent (L) | Remaining (L) | Total Purse (L) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Janakpur Bolts | 8/16 | 41.25 | 25.00 | 66.25 |
| Biratnagar Kings | 8/16 | 37.25 | 14.25 | 51.50 |
| Lumbini Lions | 6/16 | 44.00 | 5.25 | 49.25 |
| Pokhara Avengers | 6/16 | 26.75 | 18.75 | 45.50 |
| Sudurpaschim Royals | 6/16 | 26.00 | 16.50 | 42.50 |
| Karnali Yaks | 6/16 | 26.00 | 16.00 | 42.00 |
| Chitwan Rhinos | 6/16 | 26.00 | 16.00 | 42.00 |
| Kathmandu Gorkhas | 7/16 | 17.00 | 17.00 | 34.00 |
| League total | 53/128 | 244.25 | 128.75 | 373.00 |
Three things stand out here
- Lumbini Lions spent the most aggressively relative to their budget. They entered with the smallest purse of the "top tier" (NPR 49.25 lakh) and used almost 90% of it, leaving just NPR 5.25 lakh in reserve — nearly all of it on Aasif Sheikh alone.
- Kathmandu Gorkhas took the opposite approach. With the smallest overall purse (NPR 34 lakh) and having entered the day without Sheikh on their roster, they added seven players for just NPR 17 lakh — banking exactly half their purse for later in the season.
- Janakpur Bolts and Biratnagar Kings built the deepest squads (8 each) but Janakpur still walked away with the largest unspent reserve in the league (NPR 25 lakh), giving them the most flexibility if injury replacements or mid-season signings are needed.
Sold Players Tracker
Confirmed auction sales with winning franchises and prices from the NPL Season 3 live auction.
Showing 10 confirmed sales from the NPL Season 3 mini auction (53 total sold, 102 unsold).
Why Aasif Sheikh Became the Auction's Biggest Story
Aasif Sheikh entered as Nepal's first-choice wicketkeeper and the only Category A player released ahead of the retention window — Janakpur Bolts let him go rather than use a marquee slot. Multiple franchises pushed bidding well past his NPR 10 lakh base before Lumbini Lions secured him at NPR 20 lakh — roughly 40% of their entire available purse in one hammer.
For the reigning champions, it was a statement signing that reshaped the wicketkeeping landscape for Season 3 and set the price ceiling for every Category A sale that followed.
NPL's Short but Fast-Growing History
- Founded: 2024, organized by CAN
- Season 1 champion: Janakpur Bolts (2024)
- Season 2 champion: Lumbini Lions (2025)
- Winner's prize: NPR 11 million (~1.1 crore)
- Season 3 dates: Nov 17 – Dec 13, 2026
- Format: 8 teams, 32 matches, playoffs
The league is building international profile alongside its domestic auction cycle — several NPL-linked players signed for the inaugural European T20 Premier League, including Dipendra Singh Airee and Sandeep Lamichhane, a sign of how NPL's player pool overlaps with the wider global T20 circuit.
Related NPL 2026 Pages
NPL Auction Season 3 Questions
Data compiled and cross-checked from live auction coverage and post-auction reports published July 6–7, 2026. Team purse figures reconcile spend, remaining balance, and total purse across all eight franchises.