KSCA is back with the Karbonn Smartphones Karnataka Premier League 2018

The Karbonn Smartphones Karnataka Premier League Powered by Lakshmi Vilas Bank is back with its seventh edition this year. The annual domestic league of Karnataka is all set to hit the viewership, social media and attendance out of the stadium this year.

The Karnataka Premier League is fast becoming one of the best local leagues in India. With Star Sports as our broadcast partners, KPL last year became the second largest viewed domestic league in the country. It also created a sensation on social media with Twitter receiving 3.15 million impressions and the Facebook reach about 1,57,02,582, which is huge for a locally nurtured cricket league.

If the last season began with a bang and picked up momentum along the way, the ending was spectacular, leaving everyone with a feeling of ‘give me more’. The final was a thriller and the eventual winners Belagavi Panthers brought home the Trophy in the presence of the well-known Bollywood star, Suniel Shetty, who was their guest. Celebrities like Diganth, Aindrita Ray, Sanjjanna, Sharmila Mandre and Jennifer Kotwal were part of the pre-match events along with former Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu. Cricketing legends Dean Jones, Brett Lee, Michael Hussey and Daniel Vettori enlightened the viewers with their commentary for Star Sports.

This year’s tournament will start in Bangalore in August and will continue in Hubbali. The final will be held in Mysore stadium. The seventh edition of the KPL will also be played in Honor of late Srikantadatta Narasimharaju Wadiyar, the former President of KSCA and the scion of the Mysore Royal Family. Sri Wadiyar and former KSCA Secretary Brijesh Patel are the architects of the tournament and its success is largely owed to them.

KSCA has taken extra measures to ensure fair play of the tournament. In order to further boost the ethos of the league, the Anti-Corruption monitoring has been outsourced to an external organization.

The well-run KPL continues to attract premium sponsorship with Karbonn Smartphones renewing their title sponsorship. Cycle Pure Agarbhatti, Fast Track Reflex 2.0 and Vimal have extended their sponsorship this year as well with Lakshmi Vilas Bank coming in as Powered By partners.

Mr Sanjay Desai, Honorary President mentioned that, “We are really thrilled to be hosting the Karnataka Premier League’s seventh edition this year. The tournament is going to be held in three cities and we are looking forward to it. KPL has grown to be a big domestic tournament and we want it to be the best tournament in India”

Mr Sudhakar Rao, Honorary Secretary, who was present at the event said, “We are excited about the season seven of KPL. We have a lot of activities with the fans in different cities which will create excitement amongst the people. We aim at giving people an interesting season with a bunch of new budding talents.”

Vinay Mruthyunjaya, KPL Governing council member and the official spokesperson of KSCA said, “The viewership for KPL is increasing by the year. KPL 2017 became the second most viewed domestic T20 league in India and we will try to be the best this year. We have a lot of the younger crowd showing support on social media. With Star Sports as partners the viewership went up from 26 million in 2016 to 59 million in 2017.”

The Seventh edition of Karnataka Premier League will provide the state’s budding cricketers another platform to establish their credentials in the world of professional cricket, with the IPL and the Indian Team beckoning.

Match days:15th August onwards

Venue: Bangalore/ Hubbali/ Mysore

Teams:

• Bijapur Bulls
• Belagavi Panthers
• Bellary Tuskers
• Hubli Tigers
• Mysore Warriors
• Namma Shivamogga
• Kalyani Blasters Bengaluru

Previous Champions:

2008: Provident Bangalore Rural

2009: Mangalore United

2014: Mysore Warriors

2015: Bijapur bulls

2016: Bellary Tuskers

2017: Belagavi Panthers