TNPL 2017: Suresh Raina registers for TNPL draft

What's the story?

After Yusuf Pathan and Yuzvendra Chahal, Suresh Raina became the latest Indian international to have signed up for the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2017 draft. The southpaw will play for TNCA club Grand Slam while Yusuf will also feature with a lower division club.

The 30-year-old has played over 250 T20s and scored nearly 7,000 runs in the format at an average of nearly 35 and a strike rate of nearly 140. The southpaw, who has 40 fifties and three centuries in the format is already a fan favorite in Tamil Nadu from his time with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, for whom he scored 4,500 runs in 156 T20s.

Raina will be one of 80 outstation cricketers along with Piyush Chawla, Sanju Samson, Sandeep Sharma, Manoj Tiwari and Manan Vohra to have registered for the draft ahead of the second edition of the tournament, the deadline for which ended earlier today. All the players including Raina have signed up with various TNCA clubs, which is a mandatory requirement to take part in the tournament.

Indian star @ImRaina has signed up with Grandslam CC and registered for TNPL #NammaOoruNammaGethu

— TNPL (@TNPremierLeague) June 15, 2017

Extra Cover: TNPL 2017: Yusuf Pathan, Yuzvendra Chahal included in the draft

In case you didn't know...

Several players who had shown interest in taking part in the TNPL couldn’t as BCCI had refused. But this year, the likes of Yusuf Pathan, Yuzvendra Chahal and Suresh Raina have managed to get around by signing up with a TNCA league club. The tournament will not only feature current Indian internationals on the field but is also set to feature Gautam Gambhir as a mentor is already in talks for the upcoming edition.

The heart of the matter

With several Indian internationals in the fray, the draft for the outstation cricketers will take place in Chennai on June 23 across three rounds. The first round will take place in the order of how they finished in the first season with Albert Tuti Patriots, the reigning champions taking the first pick. The second round will be in the reverse order with the Madurai franchise taking the first pick and the third round will be from first to last once again. The local players draft will be held on the same date and will take place from last to first.

What's next?

With the players registering for the draft, all eyes will next turn to the TNPL draft that will take place on June 23.

Author's take

After the breakaway success of the inaugural edition of the TNPL, the inclusion of several stars, including Indian internationals, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan in the draft for the second edition just highlights how far the tournament has come. It will also be a great for Raina to continue his good form in IPL 2017 and push for a spot in the Indian limited-overs set-up.

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