NPL Season 3 retentions: who every franchise kept

Ahead of the Season 3 player auction, each NPL franchise could retain up to seven players. Most used the full allowance. Janakpur Bolts went into the auction with only five.

Lumbini Lions (7)

The champions kept captain and marquee Rohit Kumar Paudel, who scored 276 runs last season, and Sher Malla, the emerging player of the season with 17 wickets. Dilip Nath, Sundeep Jora, Dinesh Adhikari, Abhisesh Gautam and Tilak Bhandari also stay.

Sudurpaschim Royals (7)

Captain Dipendra Singh Airee leads a retained group that includes Binod Bhandari (264 runs in nine games last season), Aarif Sheikh, Ishan Pandey, Abinash Bohara, Hemant Dhami and Hikmat Mahara.

Biratnagar Kings (6)

Sandeep Lamichhane heads a list that also includes Lokesh Bam, Basir Ahamad, Narayan Joshi, Pratish GC and Subash Bhandari. Biratnagar went out to Lumbini in Qualifier 2 last season.

Kathmandu Gorkhas (6)

Karan KC is marquee and captain. Mohammad Aadil Alam, Rashid Khan, Shahab Alam and Santosh Yadav are among those retained, and Monty Desai remains head coach.

Pokhara Avengers (6)

Kushal Bhurtel is Pokhara's marquee for the third season running. Arjun Kumal, Dinesh Kharel, Bipin Khatri, Aakash Chand and Kiran Thagunna stay with him.

Karnali Yaks (7)

Marquee Sompal Kami is joined by Gulshan Kumar Jha, Nandan Yadav, Deepak Dumre, Pawan Sarraf, Unish Bikram Singh Thakuri and Yuvraj Khatri.

Chitwan Rhinos (7)

Kushal Malla is Chitwan's marquee, with Dev Khanal, Arjun Saud, Kamal Singh Airee, Ranjeet Kumar, Deepak Bohara and Rijan Dhakal. The Rhinos finished third in the first season and seventh in the second.

Janakpur Bolts (5)

The inaugural champions finished bottom last season and kept only five players: Anil Kumar Sah, who captained them in both seasons, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, Mayan Yadav, Aadity Mahata and Bikash Aagri. Former marquee Aasif Sheikh was released.