Cricket fever returns to the state

The seventh edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League will kick off here at the Sri Ramakrishna College ground, with joint-defending champion Lyca Kovai Kings (shared with Chepauk Super Gillies) taking on iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans on Monday.

The eight-team franchise-based T20 tournament - started in 2016 - has grown over the last few years and has played a crucial role in Tamil Nadu becoming a white-ball powerhouse.

The likes of T. Natarajan, Varun Chakravarthy, M. Shahrukh Khan have progressed to higher levels, fetching big-money IPL contracts on the way. The recent sensation B. Sai Sudharsan - who made a brilliant 96 in the IPL final for Gujarat Titans against Chennai Super Kings - first came to light with his performances in TNPL’s 2021 edition.

There is palpable excitement ahead of the new season, with some significant changes introduced to take the tournament towards its next phase of growth. Earlier this year, the league decided to ditch the draft system used in the first six years and conducted the first-ever player auction to select players.

Each team had a purse of ₹70 lakh, and Sai Sudharsan got the highest bid when Lyca Kovai Kings shelled ₹21.60 lakhs for the left-handed batter. Incidentally, it is even higher than the ₹20 lakh salary he gets in the IPL from the Titans.

This year, the league will implement the DRS system (only for dismissals) for the first time alongside the Impact Player rule introduced in the IPL earlier this year.

Dindigul Dragons player B. Indrajith said, “There is a lot of excitement this year with DRS and Impact Player. In the past, during the draft system, some teams were really strong. But with the auction, I think the teams are also balanced now.”

The schedule:League: At Coimbatore: June 12-16; At Dindigul: June 18-22; At Salem: June 24-29; At Tirunelveli: July 1-5.

Playoffs: At Salem: Qualifier 1 (July 7) and Eliminator (July 8); At Tirunelveli: Qualifier 2 (July 10) & Final (July 12).