International Cricket

Nepal Home 2026-27 Fixtures: Kirtipur, Mulpani & Pokhara Decoded

Rohan Bhatia 19 May 2026 Updated 19 May 2026 ~5 min read ~816 words

Nepal home 2026-27 cricket fixtures decoded

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The Cricket Association of Nepal has confirmed 16 home fixtures across the 2026-27 window, spread across TU Kirtipur, the newly accredited Mulpani Cricket Stadium and the renovated Pokhara turf. This is the most-staffed CAN calendar yet, with WCL2 fixtures against Netherlands and Scotland, a multi-format tour from Ireland, and the first-ever Test-status warm-up under floodlights at Mulpani. With Rohit Paudel's side sitting in the WCL2 top three, this window is the cleanest chance Nepal has had to lock in an automatic WC 2027 berth. Here is the full venue-by-venue decode of fixtures, broadcast routes and pathway maths.

TU Kirtipur stays the home base

Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Nepal's historic home venue, hosts eight of the 16 fixtures. The headline block is the four-match WCL2 leg against Scotland (July 8, 10, 13, 15) and a three-match T20I series against UAE (September 24, 26, 28). Start times are 09:45 NPT for ODIs to use the cooler morning hours, with T20Is moving to 13:30. The square has been re-laid in two phases since November 2025, and head curator Ramesh Paudyal has confirmed harder, faster decks for the September leg as a Pokhara contrast check. Capacity is 18,500 with the new south-stand build, and the WCL2 weekend tickets opened at NPR 250 in the general tier. Local broadcaster Action Sports HD handles the in-country feed.

Mulpani Cricket Stadium debut

The Mulpani Cricket Stadium, which received ICC venue accreditation in February 2026, hosts five fixtures. The headliner is a two-match floodlit T20I leg against Ireland (October 11, 13), Nepal's first day-night senior internationals on home soil. Mulpani also hosts a three-match ODI block against Netherlands (April 6, 8, 11) as part of the WCL2 rotation. The pitch panel at Mulpani is the work of curator Bhim Bahadur Gurung and the BCCI pitch-consultancy panel from the November 2025 advisory visit. Capacity is 14,000 with the new floodlight rig delivered by a Chennai-based vendor in January 2026. Tickets for the Ireland T20Is opened at NPR 400 in the bronze tier, scaling to NPR 1,800 in the corporate hospitality tier.

Pokhara turf, broadcast and tours

The Pokhara International Cricket Stadium hosts three high-profile fixtures: a one-off T20I against Sri Lanka A in May 2026, and a two-match ODI leg against Oman in November 2026. Pokhara's pitch played slow and low through the 2025 domestic season, and the CAN has commissioned a re-lay before the Sri Lanka A fixture. Broadcast routes are FanCode for India, Action Sports HD in-country, ICC's pathway feed in 80-plus markets and a regional package with PTV Sports for the Pakistan-tier crowd. Each WCL2 fixture is committed to the ICC's eight-camera production minimum, with Mulpani upgraded to a 10-camera plus drone rig for the Ireland T20Is.

Pathway maths and squad rotation

Nepal goes into the home window in third place on the WCL2 table, three points behind Netherlands. The pathway maths is simple: a 4-2 record across the eight remaining WCL2 fixtures locks an automatic WC 2027 berth. Captain Rohit Paudel, paceman Karan KC and spinner Sandeep Lamichhane are pencilled in for every WCL2 game, with batter Aasif Sheikh and quick Avinash Bohara sharing the wicketkeeper-allrounder rotation. The October-November block doubles as a workload taper before the T20 WC 2026 pathway-event, with Lamichhane and KC both protected from the Pokhara ODIs. Head coach Monty Desai has confirmed a 17-player long-list for the WCL2 leg.

What it means

CAN has used the 2026-27 calendar to do three things at once: protect the WCL2 points lead, blood Mulpani as a senior venue, and build the brand into the Indian and Pakistani markets through broadcast. The Mulpani floodlit fixtures are the operational risk, the new venue has never carried a senior international live broadcast before. Watch the Scotland WCL2 leg and the October Ireland T20Is at Mulpani, those two blocks will decide whether Nepal arrives at WC 2027 qualification as automatic entrants or via the qualifier route.