Lumbini Lions has signed a contract with Namibian cricketers JJ Smith and Ruben Trumpelmaan to play in the second edition of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) starting November 17.
Having already signed three foreign players, Lumbini Lions has brought them in as the fourth and fifth players to the club.
Lumbini has previously signed Australian batter D'Arcy Short, Italian pace bowler Thomas Draca and Afghan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib.
JJ Smith
Lumbini has said that by signing contract with JJ Smith, who has captained the T20 team for Namibia, both batting and bowling have been balanced. JJ Smith, 30, is a bowling all-rounder. He has captained Namibia in 4 T20 international matches.
JJ Smith captained Namibia's T20 team when Namibia toured Nepal in March 2024.
Left-handed batsman and left-arm medium pace bowler JJ Smith has been a key member of the Namibian team since he debuted in 2018. He quickly established himself with his explosive batting and sharp pace bowling.
Six years after his debut, JJ Smith is Namibia's second-highest run-scorer and wicket-taker in T20 Internationals.
JJ Smith has played 52 One-Day Internationals and 67 T20 Internationals for Namibia. He has taken 56 wickets in ODIs and 64 wickets in T20 Internationals.
He took 6 wickets in a single match against Uganda in 2022, which is his personal best bowling performance. During that time, he conceded only 10 runs in 4 overs, including 1 maiden. Smith also took a hat-trick of wickets in that match. He is also the first player to take a hat-trick of wickets for Namibia in T20 Internationals.
Similarly, his performance in T20 Internationals is also excellent. He has scored 1,188 runs, including a century and a half-century. In September 2024, he scored a century in T20 Internationals while batting at number six against Kenya in the ICC T20 World Cup Africa Region Final. He scored an unbeaten 111 runs in 38 balls, hitting 12 fours and 7 sixes. He has played 104 matches in all formats of T20, taking 13 wickets and scoring 1,508 runs.
JJ Smith has played in the T20 World Cup three times. JJ Smith was also the vice-captain of the team in the 2021 and 2024 T20 World Cups.
Similarly, he also has experience playing in Nepal. He has played in League 2 Cricket in Kirtipur. Similarly, he has also played T20 International matches for Namibia in Nepal.
Ruben Trumpelmaan
Ruben Trumpelman is a Namibian pace bowler who is affiliated with Lumbini Lions. The 27-year-old Trumpelmaan has played 48 One Day Internationals and 44 T20 Internationals for Namibia. He has taken 73 wickets in One Day Internationals and 48 wickets in T20 Internationals. He bowled his best T20 career in the match against Oman in Barbados under the T20 World Cup 2024. In which he took 4 wickets for 21 runs.
Similarly, Trumpelmaan has also scored 267 runs in T20 Internationals. Of which 46 runs is his personal highest score. He has hit two half-centuries in ODIs. In October 2025, Trumpelmaan took a crucial 3 wickets and scored an unbeaten 11 runs in a historic T20 victory against South Africa.
Born in Durban, South Africa, Trumpelmaan comes from the South African domestic system. But he came into the spotlight when he started playing for Namibia, the country where his father was born. He made his T20 International debut in 2021. Since then, he has been Namibia's main pace bowler. A left-arm bowler, he has a lot of variation.
He can bowl at a speed of 140 km per hour.
Ruben has played in the T20 World Cup three times. He has experience playing in Nepal. He has played in League 2 cricket in Kirtipur. Similarly, he has also played a T20 International match for Namibia during their tour of Nepal.
Lumbini Lions Team: Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Jora, Dinesh Adhikari, Abhishesh Gautam, Tilak Bhandari, Sumit Maharjan, Durgesh Gupta, Dilip Nath, Sher Malla, Adil Khan, Vishal Patel
Foreign Players: D'Arcy Short, Thomas Draca, Gulbadin Naib, Ruben Trumpelmaan, JJ Smith
Talent Hunt: Sameer Ali
Mentor: Robin Singh
Head Coach: Tinu Yohannan
Consultant Coach: Shakti Gauchan
Assistant Coach: Subash Khakurel
.
