NPL 2026 in the UAE: How to Watch the Nepal Premier League Live and Gulf Start Times
NPL Season 3 runs October 26 to November 21 — matches start 10:45 AM and 3:15 PM UAE time, ideal for the Gulf's huge Nepali workforce.
By Nepalese Events Australia Editorial
Published: 2026-10-29T05:00:00.000000Z
Category: Sports
The UAE's Nepali community — one of the largest outside Nepal — gets the best NPL window in the world outside South Asia: matches start at 10:45 AM and 3:15 PM Gulf Standard Time, inside normal waking hours for nearly every shift pattern. NPL Season 3 runs October 26 to November 21, 2026 at Kirtipur. 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 the UAE
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. For Gulf viewers a dedicated regional subscription tier is offered through the NETTV app — purchasable via eSewa — covering all 32 matches live.
UAE start times
• Double-header days: 10:45 AM and 3:15 PM GST
• Single-match days: 3:15 PM GST
• The 3:15 PM slot lands mid-afternoon — evening-shift workers can watch live, day-shift workers catch the evening replay window.
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. With the UAE hosting its own Nepali franchise cricket (our GCD NPL-UAE report), interest in the Kathmandu league runs especially high this year.
Rest days on November 8 and 11 keep Tihar clear — see the UAE Tihar 2026 guide. Desk updates: /news/world/uae and /world/ae; the AED–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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