NPL 2026 in Qatar: How to Watch the Nepal Premier League Live and Doha Start Times
NPL Season 3 runs October 26 to November 21 — matches start 9:45 AM and 2:15 PM Qatar time for one of the world's largest Nepali communities.
By Nepalese Events Australia Editorial
Published: 2026-10-29T05:15:00.000000Z
Category: Sports
Qatar's Nepali community — among the world's largest — can follow NPL Season 3 (October 26 – November 21, 2026) at genuinely convenient hours: matches start at 9:45 AM and 2:15 PM Qatar time. Lumbini Lions opened their title defence by beating Sudurpaschim Royals by 7 wickets on October 26; Chitwan Rhinos edged Biratnagar Kings by 8 runs and Karnali Yaks beat Janakpur Bolts by 19 runs on October 27; and Sudurpaschim bounced back to beat Pokhara Avengers by 6 wickets on October 28.
How to watch in Qatar
Every match is played at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. In India the games air on Star Sports Select and stream on FanCode; in Nepal, Himalaya TV carries the linear broadcast. For everyone else — including the whole diaspora — the official option is the NETTV app's NPL Season Pass (sold worldwide, purchasable through eSewa), which streams all 32 matches live. Gulf-region viewers get a dedicated subscription tier inside the NETTV app, purchasable through eSewa.
Qatar start times
• Double-header days: 9:45 AM and 2:15 PM AST
• Single-match days: 2:15 PM AST
• With Qatar's Friday–Saturday weekend, the Friday fixtures are the community's live-viewing days; weekday matches suit replay viewing after shifts.
Key dates
• League stage: October 26 – November 15 (rest days Oct 30, Nov 4, 8 and 11 — the league pauses for Laxmi Puja and Bhai Tika)
• Qualifier 1: Tuesday, 17 November
• Eliminator: Wednesday, 18 November
• Qualifier 2: Thursday, 19 November
• Final: Saturday, 21 November
Eight franchises contest Season 3: Biratnagar Kings, Chitwan Rhinos, Janakpur Bolts (inaugural 2024 champions), Karnali Yaks, Kathmandu Gorkhas, Lumbini Lions (defending champions), Pokhara Avengers and Sudurpaschim Royals. Each plays the others once in the round-robin; the top four reach the playoffs. This is the first edition with ICC sanction and DRS, and the reported overseas signings — David Warner, Rashid Khan, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan and Moeen Ali among them — make it the highest-profile league Nepal has hosted.
The Tihar rest days (Nov 8 and 11) align with the community's festival programme — see the Qatar Tihar 2026 guide. Updates: Qatar desk and /world/qa; the QAR–NPR rate is on the exchange page.
Photo: File:Nepali National Cricket team.JPG by Krish Dulal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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