The Cricket Association of Nepal and the governing council of Everest Premier League (EPL), the premier T20 tournament of the country were delighted to announce the onboarding of one of the Mega Stars of T20 cricket, South Africa’s AB de Villiers. Mr. 360 would be playing in the EPL this September October as confirmed by Aamir Akhtar, the Managing Director of EPL.
“We are trying our best to bring top international cricketers for EPL to put Nepal in the frame of global cricket. We had tried to bring AB de Villiers the previous season as well but he couldn’t be available. In this edition, he has agreed to be here. If nothing comes in between, he will be playing at the TU grounds for sure,” Akhtar was quoted as saying to Cricketing Nepal.
Prior to the upcoming edition, there has been only one edition of the league so far in 2018-19. It was graced by the presence of International stars like Kevin O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Rohan Mustafa, Roelof van der Merwe and Richard Levi.
West Indian superstar Chris Gayle was supposed to play in the 2019-20 edition of the league, but that got postponed due to Covid-19.
De Villiers, 37, would be part of either of the six franchises including Pokhra Rhinos, Lalitpur Patriots, Bhairahawa Gladiators, Chitwan Tigers, Biratnagar Warriors and Kathmandu Kings XI. Lalitpur Patriots are the defending champions.
Known as Mr. 360 degrees, de Villiers, who has scored 9111 runs in his long T20 career with an average of 37.49 and a strike rate of 150.19 would soon be seen playing in the Indian Premier League for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.