Lumbini Lions land Aasif Sheikh at NPL Season 3 auction

Aasif Sheikh, Nepal's opening batsman and wicketkeeper, was the star of the third season of the Nepal Premier League auction. Defending champions Lumbini Lions secured him through a lucky draw after bidding reached the maximum price of Rs2 million.

Sheikh was the sole player in the auction pool of 155 with a base price of Rs1.5 million, the highest possible. He was a marquee player released by Janakpur Bolts. Lumbini Lions chose spinner Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi as their marquee player.

The auction saw eight franchises purchase 37 players. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) expanded domestic player quotas to 14 per team for this season, up from 12. CAN also maintained the price ceilings for three player categories: 'C' (Rs200,000-Rs500,000), 'B' (Rs500,000-Rs1 million), and 'A' (Rs1 million-Rs1.5 million).

Alongside Sheikh, four other 'A' category players reached their maximum bid of Rs1.5 million and went to a lucky draw: Arjun Gharti (Pokhara Avengers), Bibek Kumar Yadav (Chitwan Rhinos), Rupesh Kumar Singh (Biratnagar Kings), and Trit Raj Das (Janakpur Bolts). Two 'B' category players, Dipak Bohara and Kishor Mahato, also went to a lucky draw after reaching their maximum bid of Rs1 million, joining Sudurpashchim Royals and Lumbini Lions respectively.