After a successful inaugural edition of Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), the southern Indian state is gearing up for the second season of intra-state Twenty20 competition.
The first edition, won by Dinesh Karthik-led Albert Tuti Patriots, saw quite a few young talents from the state making a mark and going on to play at higher levels, including the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL). Remember Rising Pune Supergiant all-rounder Washington Sundar and Kings XI Punjab pacer T Natarajan?
Also, the Tamil Nadu state team even went on to break their six-year limited overs title drought by winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2016/17.
What is the tournament format
The T20 league will feature eight teams, representing different districts of Tamil Nadu across three venues -- MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai), NPR College Ground (Dindigul), ICL Ground (Tirunelveli).
32 matches will be played overall, including the 28 single-legged round robin group stage, over a period of 30 days.
At the end of the group stage, the top four teams will qualify for the playoffs, which will have an Eliminator and two Qualifiers. Notably, the winner of each match will get two points, while tied or abandoned matches will see teams sharing a point each.
Are outstation and overseas players featuring
Well, one might see the likes of Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee associated with the league, which is a brainchild of former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N Srinivasan. But, the Australian legends will not be playing, but are part of commentary panel and coaching staff, which also has legendary names -- Lance Klusener and Michael Bevan.
Big local names, including Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary signed up for the player draft, but the BCCI ordered against the participation of outstation players.
However, there is enough star power in the league with the likes of India opener Murali Vijay, off-spinner R Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath and former pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji among the big names. However, Ashwin has revealed he will be missing a major part of the tournament due to national duty.
How to watch on TV, online
India: TV: Star Sports 1, Star Sports Tamil. Live streaming: Hotstar
How do the teams look like
| Teams | Players |
| Dindigul Dragons | Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Murugan Ashwin, Subramania Siva, T Natarajan, Ganga Sridhar Raju, Ashwin Venkataraman, Sunny Kumar Singh, Wilkins Victor, Adithya Arun, S Abhishek, N Jagadeesan, MS Sanjay, M Silambarasan, ME Yazh Arun Mozhi, R Vivek, K Mukunth, Dinesh S, Aarif A |
| Albert Tuti Patriots | Dinesh Karthik(c), Umashankar Sushil, Siddarth Ahuja, Subramanian Anand, Akash Surma, Aswin Crist, Aushik Srinivas, V Athisayaraj Davidson, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Kaushik Gandhi, M Ganesh Moorthi, V Lakshman, Maaruthi Raghav, SP Nathan, Abhinav Mukund, G Nicul Anand, R Vishaal, R Sathyanarayan, Washington Sundar |
| Chepauk Super Gillies | Rajagopal Sathish(c), Antony Dhas, Joel Joseph, Gopinath, Yo Mahesh, Sathiamoorty Saravanan, Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, Thalaivan Sargunam, Aditya Barooah, R Alexander, Jothimani Gowjith Subhash, Ashwath Mukumthan, S Karthik, Baskaran Rahul, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Uthirasamy Sasidev, Suthesh R, Radhakrishnan S |
| Lyca Kovai Kings | Murali Vijay(c), S Ajith Ram, B Anirudh Sita Ram, K Gowtham Thamarai Kannan, B Arun, S Harish Kumar, Ravi Kumar Rohith, M Mohammed, MK Sivakumar, Vijay Shankar, L Suryaprakash, Akshay Srinivasan, S Tarun Srinivas, JS Mohammad, Krishnamoorthy Vignesh, P Ranjan Paul, Manish Ravi, Siddharth M, Deeran Lingesh K |
| Madurai Super Giants | Arun Karthik(c), P Francis Rokins, DT Chandrasekar, Muruganantham, Lakshminarayanan Vignesh, M Raja, Edward Kennedy, Suresh Kumar, Palani Amarnath, Shijit Chandran, Shah Rukh Khan, Senthil Nathan, Poiyamozhi, R Karthikeyan, Sivaramakrishnan P S, Ganesh N, Prashanth Prabhu D, Mani Bharathi K. Ajith R |
| Ruby Trichy Warriors | Baba Indrajith(c), Jagannathan Kaushik,, B Aditya, Adithya Ganesh, Anthony Mannays, Akkil Srinaath, Bharath Shankar, Jagatheesan Kousik, Rajamani Jesuraj, Murthy Prabhu, Nilesh Subramanian, Alagh Prathiban, Krishna Varun Kumar, K Vignesh, Aditya Giridhar, Jabez Moses J, Mokit HariHaran RS, Prashid Akash N, Manokaran M |
| Kaaraikudi Kaalai | S Katharina(c), A Jerome, Srikkanth Anirudha, S Lokeshwar, M Shajahan, R Sonu Yadav, K Vishal Vaidhya, Sunil Sam, Suresh Babu, M Vijay Kumar, Rajhamany Srinivasan, R Rajkumar, Shoaib Md Khan, S Mohan Prasath, Chandrasekar Ganapathy, M Abhinav, S Hukku, Trilok Nag N, Aashish Sri Krishnan, Varun Chakravarthi |
| VB Thiruvalluvar Veerans | Baba Aparajith(c), Hari Nishanth, NS Chaturved, R Kavin, Ramalingam Rohit, U Mukilesh, Samuel, Silambarasan, Vignesh, Rahil Shah, Abhishek Tanwar, Sanjay Yadav, Malolan Rangarajan, Lakshmi Narayanan, Jaganath Sinivas, S Arun, R Rajan, Siddharth S, Ashwin Kumar RD |
Full Schedule
| Match | Date | Time | Host City |
| Tuti vs Dindigul | July 22 | 7:15pm IST | Chennai |
| Kovai vs Karaikudi | July 23 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Chepauk vs Thiruvallur | July 24 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Madurai vs Dindigul | July 25 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Trichy vs Tuti | July 26 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Madurai vs Karaikudi | July 27 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Dindigul vs Thiruvallur | July 28 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Chepauk vs Kovai | July 29 | 7:15pm IST | Chennai |
| Karaikudi vs Tuti | July 30 | 3:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Thiruvallur vs Trichy | July 30 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Kovai vs Dindigul | July 31 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Chepauk vs Tuti | August 1 | 7:!5pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Kaaraikudi vs Thiruvallur | August 2 | 3:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Trichy vs Madurai | August 2 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Tuti vs Kovai | August 3 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Karaikudi vs Chepauk | August 4 | 7:15pm IST | Chennai |
| Dindigul vs Trichy | August 5 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Madurai vs Chepauk | Augsut 6 | 7:15pm IST | Chennai |
| Dindigul vs Karaikudi | August 7 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Madurai vs Tiruvallur | August 8 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Chepauk vs Trichy | August 9 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Kovai vs Madurai | August 10 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Karaikudi vs Trichy | August 11 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Thiruvallur vs Kovai | August 12 | 7:15pm IST | Chennai |
| Tuti vs Madurai | August 13 | 3:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Trichy vs Kovai | August 13 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Qualifier 1 | August 15 | 7:15pm IST | Chennai |
| Eliminator | August 16 | 7:15pm IST | Dindigul |
| Qualifier 2 | August 18 | 7:15pm IST | Tirunelveli |
| Final | August 20 | 7:15pm IST | Chennai |
