Chitwan Rhinos is all set for the inaugural season for NPL with the announcement of all four international signings and local players selected from the auction previously. Kushal Malla is the marquee player for this franchise and former Nepal national cricket team head coach Umesh Patwal is set to take the head coach role for the Rhinos. These are the overseas players announced by the Rhinos team management:

Marchant de Lange (SA)

Marchant de Lange is a 34 years old Proteas tall right arm fast bowler with the ability with bat in the lower order too. He has featured for more than 15 franchises over the world including Kolkata Knight Riders (2012), Mumbai Indians (2014-2015), Guyana Amazon Warriors (2015), Barbados Tridents (2016), Team Abu Dhabi (2024) and many more.

He has played 6 T20I matches for South Africa where he grabbed 7 wickets at the average of 33.8 runs. Moreover, he has played 144 T20 matches where he has taken 154 wickets with an average of 27 runs and economy of 8.78 runs per over which includes 5 IPL wickets in 5 matches too.

He has lastly been seen playing for Gloucestershire in Vitality Blast where he had taken 11 wickets in 10 matches. The presence of these sorts of experience in the Nepal Premier League is surely going to boost up the energy for the season.

Luc Benkenstein (ENG)

Luc Martin Benkenstein is a 20 years old South African-born English cricketer who is an allrounder playing as a right hand batsman and a legbreak bowler. He has played as a vice-captain for the England Under-19s in the Under-19 World Cup and has been playing for Essex Cricket Team in County Championship Division One. He is the son of former South African international Dale Benkenstein.

Luc has an average of 27 runs while batting and 4 wickets with economy of 10 rpo while bowling in 11 T20 matches in Vitality Blast with Essex. Benkenstein has signed to play for the Chitwan Rhinos franchise in the inaugural season of Nepal Premier League in October 2024.

Hassan Eisakhil (AFG)

Hasan Eisakhil is another youngster who usually plays as an opening batsman for the Afghanistan national under-19 cricket team and is a son of popular Afganistani cricketer Mohammad Nabi. 

He averages more than 30 where he has 426 runs in 16 T20 matches at the strike rate of almost 125. He was in the playing XI when Nepal Under-19s grab a historic victory over Afghanistan Under-19s in the ICC U19 ODI World Cup where he scored 20 runs in 35 balls with 4 fours by his name. 

Nicol Loftie-Eaton (NAM)

Nicol Loftie-Eaton is a Namibian batting allrounder who bats left handed and bowls leg breaks. He is the one who broke the record of our own Nepalese player Kushal Malla for the fastest century in T20 Internationals with a 33-ball hundred against Nepal that consisted of 11 fours and 8 sixes.

Loftie-Eaton has played 37 T20I matches averaging 17 with the strike rate of 125+ with the bat and taken 12 wickets at an economy of 7.5. He is a power hitter, an economical leggie and excellent fielder with some experience in the TU Cricket Ground.

Full Squad List of Chitwan Rhinos (excluding 1 local player yet to be announced) :

Marquee Player:

• Kushal Malla

Grade A Players:

• Rijan Dhakal (10L)
• Kamal Singh Airee (10L)
• Sarad Vesawkar (10L)

Grade B Players:

• Bipin Rawal (8L)
• Deepak Bohara (5L)
• Dipesh Shrestha (5L)
• Amar Singh Rautela (5L)

Grade C Players:

• Santosh Karki (5L)
• Ranjeet Kumar (3L)
• Gautam KC (2L)

International Signings:

• Marchant de Lange (South Africa)
• Luc Benkenstein (England)
• Hasan Eisakhil (Afghanistan)
• Nicol Loftie-Eaton (Namibia)