R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, JUNE 18
Cricket fans in Salem and Coimbatore have lots to cheer because the sixth season of Shriram Capital Tamil Nadu Premier League will be coming closer home. Salem Cricket Foundation ground and SNR College ground in Coimbatore are among the new venues which will be playing host to the immensely popular Twenty20 league which gets under way at the India Cements Sankar Nagar ground, Tirunelveli from June 23 (Thursday), say senior officials here on Saturday.
The addition of new venues is keeping in with Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s (TNCA) endeavour to take the TNPL to the districts.
“We are hopeful of getting a good response especially from Salem and Coimbatore, which has thrown up quite a few players over the past seasons. The TNCA is extremely grateful to the authorities in Salem and Coimbatore for their efforts,” said TNCA secretary R S Ramasaamy.
- Chepauk to miss out due to renovation at MA Chidambaram stadium
- Tirunelveli and Dindigul (NPR College ground, Natham), that has hosted TNPL games in the past, are back in favour after missing out the last season due to COVID-19 restrictions
- In all 32 matches, including the Playoff matches will be played at four venues during the 39-day long tournament with the final on July 31 (Sunday) at Coimbatore
- The prize pool is of Rs 1.7 crore with the winners getting Rs 50 lakh while the runners-up will net Rs 30 lakh.
- All matches will be telecast live on Star Sports1 HD, Star Sports1, Star Sports1 (Tamil) and VOOT OTT platform
Tirunelveli and Dindigul (NPR College ground, Natham), that has hosted TNPL games in the past, are back in favour after missing out the last season due to COVID-19 restrictions. All matches last year were played in Chennai.
It will be the turn of Chennai to miss out on the TNPL this season because the MA Chidambaram Stadium is getting a facelift with new stands, swanky pavilions, state of the art dressing rooms and corporate boxes set to spruce up the iconic venue. It will be the first time since the TNPL began that Chepauk will not be hosting any TNPL match.
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In all 32 matches, including the Playoff matches will be played at four venues during the 39-day long tournament with the final on July 31 (Sunday) at Coimbatore. The prize pool is of Rs 1.7 crore with the winners getting Rs 50 lakh while the runners-up will net Rs 30 lakh.
All matches will be played with 100 percent attendance with an entry fee of Rs 100 per person. Match tickets are available on Paytm Insider.
All matches will be telecast live on Star Sports1 HD, Star Sports1, Star Sports1 (Tamil) and VOOT OTT platform.
The TNPL this season has also attracted an impressive line-up of sponsors with Shriram Capital as Title Partner, Sharon Wood Ply as Strength Partner while Dream 11, Upstox, Aha, Boomer, Boost and Sonata are Associate Partners. Star Sports is the Broadcast Partner, Ather is the Orange and Purple Cap partner, Cycle Brand Agarbatti is the Umpire Partner and Paytm Insider is the ticketing partner. The digital space is equally impressive with Voot as Digital Rights Partner, Giggr as Aspiration Partner, Sportradar, being the Data Rights and Integrity Partner, Sportsbuzz as Sports News Partner, and Fan Craze the NFT Partner.
The success and growth of the league Tamil Nadu can be gauged by the number of players (14) from the state that featured in the 2022 Indian Premier League. No other state in the country had such a high representation in the world’s most lucrative and popular cricket league. Small wonder, because no other state association conducts its league with such distinction as TNPL.
The sixth season has the potential to be a cracker if all 14 players who featured in IPL 2022 make themselves available.
The TNPL has proved to be a stepping stone for global recognition for quite a few players. Fast bowler Thangarasu Natarajan rises to stardom from a village (Chinnappampatti, Salem) and Chennai boy Washington Sundar’s excellence have been among the success stories of Tamil Nadu cricket in recent times. Their TNPL performances led them to IPL and selection to the Indian team. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who was part of the Indian team for T20 World Cup in 2021 is another example.
Chepauk Super Gillies, who have ruled the roost over the last two seasons remain the team to beat. The other teams can take inspiration from Ruby Trichy Warriors dream run last season when they went from no-hopers to title contenders.
Two-time finalists Dindigul Dragons will be hoping to cross that final hurdle while the likes of 2018 champions Siechem Madurai Panthers, Lyca Kovai Kings, Nellai Royal Kings, Salem Spartans and iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans will also be looking forward to the season with renewed hopes.
The teams are fully geared up for the contests ahead after adding new members during the Players Draft held last month.
TNPL’s 14 stars who featured in IPL 2022
Bhardwaj Sai Sudarshan, Shahrukh Khan, Thangarasu Natarajan (all Lyca Kovai Kings), Washington Sundar, Murugan Ashwin, Vijay Shankar (all Salem Spartans), Narayan Jagadeesan, Ravisrinivasan Saikishore (both Chepauk Super Gillies), Ravichandran Ashwin, C Hari Nishanth (both Dindigul Dragons), Baba Indrajith, Sanjay Yadav (both Nellai Royal Kings), Varun Chakravarthy (Siechem Madurai Panthers), Dinesh Karthik (iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans).
Numbers game
39 – Days is duration of the tournament comprising 32 matches
28 – League matches
10 – League matches at the SNR College ground, Coimbatore, including the final
9 – Matches at Salem Cricket Foundation ground, including two Playoff games
7- Matches at NPR College ground, Natham
6- Matches at the India Cements Sankar Nagar ground, Tirunelveli.
6 – Double-headers
2 – New venues – Coimbatore and Salem
Sponsor list
- Title Partner – Shriram Capital
- Broadcast Partner – Star Sports 1, 1HD, Tamil
- Digital Rights Partner – Voot
- Strength Partner – Sharon Ply
- Associate Partner – Upstox
- Associate Partner – Dream11, AHA, Boomer, Boost, Sonata
- Umpire partner – Cycle Agarbathi
- Orange & Purple Cap Partner – Ather
- Aspiration Partner – Giggr
- Sports News Partner – Sportsbuzz
- NFT Partner – Fan craze
- Ticketing Partner – Paytm Insider
- Data rights and integrity partner – Sportradar
