Janakpur Bolts 2026 — Squad, Results & Next Match

Where the Bolts stand

Janakpur Bolts are fifth in NPL Season 3 after Match 21, on 4 points from six matches with a net run rate of −0.303. They have one league match left. Win it and they reach 6 points. Lose it and the season is over.

The table is tight at the bottom. Chitwan Rhinos sit fourth on 5 points, and Janakpur, Biratnagar Kings and Karnali Yaks are all on 4. The Bolts have the best net run rate of the three — −0.303 against Biratnagar’s −0.820 and Karnali’s −0.846 — so if the race comes down to a tie on 6 points, Janakpur hold the tiebreak.

Table after Match 21 (10 November 2026). A win is worth 2 points and the top four teams qualify for the playoffs. The full table is on the NPL Points Table.

What Janakpur need to qualify

First, they must beat Chitwan Rhinos on Friday. That takes them to 6 points and drops Chitwan to 5 with one match left. Then they need Chitwan to lose their last match as well — to Karnali Yaks on Sunday — and Biratnagar Kings and Karnali Yaks to win no more than one of their two remaining matches each, and Pokhara Avengers to win no more than one of theirs. If all of that happens, Janakpur finish fourth on 6 points, ahead of the other 6-point teams on net run rate. Any other combination leaves them short: a defeat on Friday ends their season outright, because Chitwan already sit on 5 points and Lumbini Lions on 7.

The season so far

Two wins, four defeats — and two of those defeats were decided in the final over. The Bolts have been in every match they have lost except the last one, when Sudurpaschim Royals bowled them out for 93.

The win over Kathmandu Gorkhas was the high point: the table leaders were bowled out for 115 and Janakpur chased it down with eight wickets in hand. The low point came the other way — a two-run defeat to Biratnagar Kings, a match Janakpur had in their hands at 172 for 7 chasing 175. Then came the 27-run defeat to Sudurpaschim Royals in Match 21, where Trit Raj Das’s 21 was the top score in a total of 93 and Harmeet Singh’s 4 for 17 with the ball could not make up for it.

Scores verified against the NPL results file and the Match 21 scorecard. Every scorecard is on the NPL Results page.

The squad

Seventeen names, built around a new captain and three overseas all-rounders. Five players were retained from last season, eight came through the July auction, and three arrived on direct overseas contracts. The Bolts spent NPR 41.25 lakh at the auction — the second-highest outlay in the league — and kept NPR 25 lakh of their purse unspent.

Captain: Harmeet Singh. Coach: Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Marquee player: Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi, the left-arm spinner retained as the side’s marquee name after Aasif Sheikh’s departure.

Squad verified for Season 3 in the NPL data file (checked 21 October 2026). Iftikhar Ahmed was signed as a fourth overseas player, but his availability depended on a Pakistan Cricket Board NOC and he is not in the verified squad list. A small number of players who have appeared in matches are still being verified for the squad list and are not shown here.

The players carrying the season

One man has carried Janakpur’s bowling almost on his own. The batting has been spread thin — nobody in the side has passed 150 runs in the season so far.

Harmeet Singh leads the whole league in wickets. The captain’s 4 for 17 against Sudurpaschim Royals in Match 21 took him to 11 wickets in six matches, at an economy of 5.83. He also made 65 runs in five innings, so the bat has not been idle either.

Moeen Ali has been the side’s most complete cricketer: 108 runs in four matches, including a fifty, and 7 wickets at an economy under 5. Trit Raj Das has 112 runs with a fifty of his own, and Saif Hassan has 140 runs in four matches — the most of any Janakpur batter. Rahul Yadav sits second in the side’s wicket chart with 9, and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi has 4 wickets in six matches.

Batting and bowling figures are from the NPL season stats file (updated 10 November 2026); Harmeet Singh’s and Lalit Rajbanshi’s wicket tallies include Match 21 (10 November 2026).

Next match

Janakpur Bolts vs Chitwan Rhinos, Match 25, on Friday 13 November 2026 at 4:30 PM NST (3:45 PM PKT, 10:45 AM UTC), at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur.

It is the Bolts’ last league match and it is a straight shootout: the winner stays in the playoff race and the loser is out. Chitwan sit one place above Janakpur on 5 points, so a Bolts win takes them past the Rhinos on the table — and leaves Chitwan needing to beat Karnali Yaks on Sunday to stay alive themselves.

The full fixture list is on the NPL Schedule. All matches are at the TU International Cricket Ground, Kirtipur.