MS Dhoni unveils Tamil Nadu Premier League Trophy

The captain of the Indian ODI and T20 cricket team MS Dhoni unveiled the trophy of Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) in an event organised in Chennai. TNPL is a 20-over cricket tournament organised by the Tamil Cricket Association (TNCA). The President of the TNCA N Srinivasan was present at the event and said that the main aim behind this T-20 tournament is to promote and showcase the talent of the state.

During the event, the organisers asked the Indian captain to unveil the TNPL cup and the announced the sponsors’ names. Sponsors included big names like Coca-Cola, India Cements and Equitas Holdings.

After CSK’s suspension, the people of Chennai were missing a major cricket event in the state. As CSK was banned from IPL, its matches were not taking place in Chennai’s playgrounds. As quoted from the Business Standard, Srinivasan referred to CSK and said that the people will soon be able to see the ‘Yellow jersey’ players during the game.

TNPL saw the highest amount raised by any state cricket body. At the end of the bidding, the total amount raised for the teams was 33 Crore INR.

The organisers also announced the names of the eight teams, each owned by corporate groups who won the bid. The owners’ group included Take Solutions, Metropolitan Chennai Television, Kothari (Madras), Lyca Productions, VB Academy, Ruby Builders and Promoters and Chettinad Apparels.

Sources reported that the owners will pay the franchise fee to the State’s cricket association over a period of 10 years. Srinivasan H R, the vice-chairman and managing director of Take Solutions said that the company expects to invest Rs. 7-8 crore for the event during this year.

TNCA offered around 900 cricketers to TNPL, from which some of them were selected for the game. The tournament comprises 31 matches which will be held on 20 days between 24th August and 18th September. The matches will be held in three different locations.

As said by Metronation Chennai Television’s Sivanthi Adityan Balasubramanian, the players are selected for a contract of two years. A senior TNPL official reported that the players outside Tamil Nadu will not be participating in the tournament.