It was no suprise as Chitwan Rhinos lifted the trophy of PPL 2019 after a dominant performance by them throughout the tournament. Defeating Biratnagar titans; who finished at the bottom of last years edition, they remained unbeaten throughout the tounament.
Winning all the 5 matches at the league stage, Rhinos team directly got into the final leaving their opponents in final being decided through the eliminator match between Butwal Blasters and Biratnagar Titans.
At the group stage, Biratnagar came closest off all teams to beat Chitwan Rhinos. The inclusion of Babar Hayat, Rohan Mustafa, Sunny Patel alongside with ex-captain of Nepal national cricket team; Paras Khadka made them undoubtedly the favorite side at start of the tournament itself.
Along with these foreign superstars, who have performed in Nepali domestic franchise cricket consistently, the likes of Aarif Sheikh, Karan KC, Bikram Sob, Anil Kumar Sah, Hari Shanker Sah made look Chitwan Rhinos team invincible.
The performance of Nepali players didn’t dissapointed the fans at this tournament compared to previous tournaments where foreign players almost everytime outperformed Nepali players. Specially at batting, Aarif Sheikh was talk of the town almost everytime he batted. He made runs and won matches for his team but most important thing was the approach he took in his batting.
Gyanendra Malla too had a great tournament overall. He became the first player to score a century in this tournament history. We could say that he has made a comeback after being appointed a captain of Nepal national team as his performance has shown such.
In overall, the tournament was a success as a whole. The scenic Machhapuchhare and Annapurna mountain range catched the attention of many cricket fans as well as players. The ground showed the potential to host international cricket matches in near future.