Zimbabwe cricket all-rounders Sean Williams and Ryan Burl are set to take part in the inaugural edition of the Nepal T20 League which kicks off this Friday.
One of the six Nepal T20 league franchises Far West United announced the 36-year-old former Zimbabwe captain, Williams, as one of their five foreign players.
Others include Bangladeshi Mohammad Shahid, West Indian Matthew Forde, Afghan Hashmatullah Shahidi and Umair Ali from Pakistan.
Burl (28) will represent Kathmandu Knights, along with Azmatullah Omarzai from Afghanistan, Englishman Alex Blake and Indian Virandeep Singh for the upcoming Nepal T20 competition.
#NepalT20
Ryan Burl, Virandeep Singh, Alex Blake and Azmatullah Omarzai are going to play for Kathmandu Knights in the Nepal T20 League. pic.twitter.com/mTyBXXrJ8t— Nepal T20 League (@_nplt20official) December 20, 2022
The Nepal T20 League is one of the lucrative T20 competitions that have recently emerged across the globe and is scheduled to run until January 10 in the South Asian country.
It includes four other franchises namely Pokhara Avengers, Janakpur Royals, Biratnagar Super Kings and Lumbini All Stars.
Burl’s Kathmandu Knights will play the first match of the tournament against Pokhara Avengers on Friday while Williams and his Far West United entertain Lumbini All Stars later on the same day.
Williams is currently the eighth best all-rounder in T2Ois at the moment while Burl who achieved his best T20 all-rounder ranking of fifth place back in August 2021 is 34th in the world.
#NepalT20
Mohammad Shahzad, Sean Williams, Matthew Forde , Hazmatullah Shahidi and Umar Ali will play for Far West United in the Nepal T-20 League . pic.twitter.com/sJVPxZg8a9— Nepal T20 League (@_nplt20official) December 20, 2022
It will be the first time that the two Zimbabwean players will get a piece of T20 action following a memorable ICC Men’s T20 World Cup performance by the country.
The ICC T20 World Cup was hosted by Australia in October and November and Zimbabwe managed to reach the Super 12 stage for the first time at the global showpiece.
The NepalT20 was initially scheduled to be held on September 24, 2022 and was postponed to December 2022 as per the directives of the county’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
At first it was rescheduled to take place from December 12 – December 31 before the dates were changed again.
The NepalT20 will be a good opportunity for the Zimbabwean pair to fine tune for the Ireland visit to Zimbabwe for three T20is and as many ODIs next month.