If you think Tamil Nadu can only boast of the glory of the Chennai Super Kings, think again. The state takes its cricket very, very seriously. And so what if we are out of IPL?
You kick us out of a league, we create our own. All hail the Tamil Nadu Premier League, which will have eight teams from various districts taking on each other.
A total of 31 matches (28 league matches, two semi-finals and the final) will be played, and Chennai, Dindigul (Natham) and Tirunelveli will play host to the matches. Chennai will host the opening match as well as the semi-finals and the finals. The draft ceremony, which was conducted by former India leg-spinner L Sivaramakrishnan, saw the eight franchises pick a total of 151 players. On the board is TNCA president and former BCCI chief N Srinivasan and TNPL Chair and lawyer PS Raman.
The announcement came even as Chennai Super Kings is serving a two-year suspension from the Indian Premier League. Commenting on the issue, the TNCA president N Srinivasan said, "We feel the absence because the Chennai team was not in the IPL, but time will fly. One season without CSK is already over, just one year left. CSK will obviously come in after a year without any intervention."
Srinivasan told DNA, “I did not let my BCCI post interfere with my TNPL role. Right now, there is no dispute at all between Chennai Super Kings, Srinivasan and BCCI. The only case of conflict happened when the TNCA-registered outstation players were not allowed by BCCI for TNPL.”
The first Under-19 player to be picked was Washington Sundar, who went to the Thoothukudi franchise. The TNPL has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to allow outstation players to take part in the league. TNPL Chairman PS Raman is looking to rope in outstation players, which however, the BCCI has not got back to them on.
The tournament will be from August 27 to September 18. The winners will take home Rs 1 crore while the runners-up will receive 60 lakh. The third and fourth placed teams will receive 40 lakh each. The total prize money on offer is Rs 3.40 crore.
The eight franchises will be captained by well-known names of Tamil Nadu cricket, including international players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay.
Here is the list of squads for the TNPL 2016.
Tuti Patriots (Thoothukudi) (Bid price Rs 5.21 crore)
Owner: Thoothukudi Sports and Entertainment Private Limited
Players: Dinesh Karthik, L Balaji, Washington Sunder, Aswinathisayaraj Dav Crist, Abhinav Mukund, Aushik Srinivas, Kaushik Gandhi, Anand Subramanian, Akash Sumra, Sathyanarayan R, Sushil U, Ganesh Moorthi M, Athisayaraj Davidson, Maaruthi Raghav, Vishaal R, Siddarth S Ahuja, Lakshman V, Nathan SP, Nicul Anand.
Captain: Dinesh Karthik
Lyca Kovai Kings (Coimbatore) (Rs 5.01 crore)
Owner: Lycra Productions Private Limited
Players: Murali Vijay, Syed Mohammed, Mohammed M, Suryap Prakash L, Vijay Shankar, Siva Kumar, Rohith R, Vignesh K, Anirudh Sita Ram, Ajith Ram, Harish Kumar, Akshay V Srinivasan, Arun B, Anchit D, Kamalesh M, Tarun Srinivas, Adhithya Giridhar, Gowtham Thamarai.
Captain: Murali Vijay
Chepauk Super Gillies (Rs 5.13 crore)
Owner: Metronation Chennai Television Private Limited
Players: R Sathish, Yo Mahesh, Thalaivan Sargunam, Anthony Dhas, Gopinath, Sai Kishore, Sasidev, Joel Joseph, Tamil Kumaran, Alaxander R, Vasanth Saravanan S, Rahul B, Ashwath Mukunthan, Karthik S, Rajeel Abdul Rahman, Nirmal Kumar, Vasudevan, Aditya Barooah, Shibi Jawahar.
Captain: Rajagopal Sathish
Madurai Super Giants (Rs 4.001 crore)
Owner: Kothari (Madras) International Limited
Arun Karthick, Suresh Kumar, Thiyagarajan, Francis Rokins, Chandrasekar, Vignesh Ganapathi, Raja M, Shijit Chandran, Vignesh L, Maan K Bafna, Muruganantham S, Aswin Kumar, Amarnath, Varun Narendar, Sakthi P, Anton Andrew Subikshan, Mihir R, Edward Kennedy, Madhu C. Coach: Michael Bevan.
Captain: Arun Karthik
Ruby Kanchi Warriors (Rs 3.69 crore)
Owner: Ruby Builders and Promoters
Players: Indrajith B, Koushik J, Jesuraj R, Shahrukh Khan M, Bharath Shankar, Prathiban, Varun Kumar, Prabhu M, Kaushik J, Ganesh L, Adithya Ganesh, Siddharth S, Suthesh T, Nilesh Subramanian, Akkil Srinaath, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Mitchell Anthony, Trilok Nag, Aditya B.
Captain: Baba Indrajith
VB Thiruvallur Veerans (Rs 3.48 crore)
Owner: VB Cricket Academy
Players: Aparjith B, Abhishek Tanwar, Rahil S Shah, Kavin R, Chaturved NS, Malolan Rangarajan, Rohit R, Jaganath Sinivas, Vignesh GV, Sanjay Yadav, Arun S, Samruddh Bhat, Hari Nishaanth, Lakshminarayanan, Govindaraj, Silambarasan, Mukilesh, Samuel S, Santosh Shiv.
Captain: Baba Aparajith
Dindigul Dragons (Rs 3.42 crore)
Owner: Take Solutions Limited
Players: R Ashwin, Ashwin M, Natarajan, Sanjay MS, Jagadeesan N, Ganga Sridhar Raju, Subramania Siva, Sunny Kumar Singh, Mukunth, Wilkins Victor, Ashwin Venkataraman, Shyam Sundar, Dinesh S, Yazh Arul Mozhi, Prashant Prabhu, Abhishek, Vivek, Adithya Arun, Silambarasan.
Captain: Ravichandran Ashwin
Karaikudi Kaalai (Rs 3.30 crore)
Owner: Chettinad Apparels Private Limited
Badrinath, Aniruda, Sunil Sam, Suresh Babu, Lokeshwar, Ganapathi Chandrasekar, Shoaib MD Khan, Vishal Vaidhya, Sonu Yadav, Rajkumar, Mohan Prasath, Vijay Kumar, Abhinav M, Jerome A, Srinivasan R, Kiran Akash, Sujay S, Swaminathan S, Shahjahan. Coach: Robin Singh.
Captain: Robin Singh
The TNCA plans to hold the next edition of the TNPL in July 2017 to avoid a clash of dates with any other domestic tournament.
Duration: 24 August to 18 September
Where to watch: Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD 1
Venues: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai; NPR College Ground, Dindigul; Indian Cement Company Ground, Tirunelveli