Chitwan Rhinos 2026 Squad, 2025 Results & Stats

Chitwan Rhinos are a Nepal Premier League franchise representing Chitwan. Chitwan Medical College acquired the team in September 2024, and the one-horned rhinoceros crest, grey-orange-black colours and Mr. Gaida mascot connect the identity to Chitwan National Park and the region.

The Rhinos finished seventh in NPL 2025 with two wins, five losses and four points. They beat Karnali Yaks by four wickets and Biratnagar Kings by 48 runs, but four consecutive defeats after the Biratnagar win ended their playoff challenge.

That was a step back from their inaugural 2024 campaign. Chitwan placed third in the league table with four wins and three losses, then lost the Eliminator to Karnali Yaks by 21 runs and were classified fourth overall. They have not yet won the NPL title.

Chitwan retained seven players: Kushal Malla, Dev Khanal, Arjun Saud, Kamal Singh Airee, Ranjeet Kumar, Deepak Bohara and Rijan Dhakal. Six July auction additions then took the confirmed domestic group to 13 names.

The six reported auction signings were Bibek Kumar Yadav, Mausam Dhakal, Ashok Dhami, Bipin Rawal, Gautam KC and Sallahuddin Khan. CAN's Season 3 process reserves one additional domestic place for talent-hunt recruitment, so 13 is an accurate pre-season snapshot rather than a claim that the squad is complete.

Khabarhub reported auction prices of NPR 1.5 million for Bibek, NPR 300,000 for Mausam and NPR 200,000 for each of the other four additions. These amounts describe auction bids, not take-home salaries, total earnings or net worth. Overseas players and any replacement are also excluded until officially confirmed.

Both descriptions can be correct, but they refer to different stages. Chitwan finished third in the seven-match league table with four wins, three losses, eight points and a +0.634 net run rate.

The third-place league finish sent the Rhinos into the Eliminator against fourth-placed Karnali Yaks. Karnali won by 21 runs, ending Chitwan's campaign; the franchise's own match report and CAN's final classification record Chitwan in fourth place overall.

The clean summary is therefore third in the 2024 league stage and fourth after the playoffs. Calling Chitwan simply third ignores the Eliminator, while calling them fourth without context hides the league-table position they earned before it.

Chitwan were still 2-1 after beating Biratnagar Kings by 48 runs in Match 12. The campaign then changed sharply: the Rhinos lost their remaining four matches and finished seventh on four points.

The defeats were not all the same. Kathmandu dismissed Chitwan for 89, Janakpur chased the Rhinos' season-high 176/4, Sudur Paschim won by 49 runs, and Pokhara chased 121 with eight wickets left.

That sequence matters more than a vague claim about lost momentum. It shows four different failure states—an early collapse, an expensive defence of a strong total, another heavy defeat and a low total that left too little margin—without pretending one unsupported tactical cause explains all four.

No. Chitwan represent Bharatpur and the wider Chitwan region, but every match in NPL 2025 was staged at TU Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.

The team label therefore describes the franchise's represented place, not a home-and-away schedule. None of Chitwan's seven completed results should be described as a Bharatpur home fixture.

This distinction also prevents a common venue error: a future base or proposed ground does not rewrite where a completed season was actually played. The 2025 record remains a single-venue tournament record.

Sohail Tanvir and Ranjeet Kumar both took eight wickets in five matches, so neither should be listed alone as Chitwan's leading wicket-taker. Their supporting numbers, however, describe different completed-season returns.

Ranjeet finished with the better average (14.50), economy rate (5.80) and best figures (5/21). Tanvir averaged 15.75, conceded 6.81 runs per over and recorded a best of 4/25.

The correct reading is a shared wicket lead with a stronger efficiency line for Ranjeet—not an invented award or a claim that one bowler was universally better. Wicket totals establish the tie; average, economy and best figures add the useful context.