Kathmandu, Nov. 16 -- The second season of the Nepal Premier League kicks off Monday, with defending champions Janakpur Bolts taking on Kathmandu Gorkhas in the tournament opener, launching what the Cricket Association of Nepal has branded as the 'Festival of Himalayas'.

Millions of Nepali fans have embraced the domestic T20 cricket tournament as a new festival in the Nepali calendar.

"We are all set to make the second season bigger and better than the inaugural one, which was itself historical," Chatur Bahadur Chand, president of the Cricket Association of Nepal, said during a press meet organised by Nepali cricket's governing body to inform about the tournament's preparations, on Saturday. "We have almost completed our preparations."...