Tamil Nadu Premier League

The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The league was formed in 2016 by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA). It is played during July and August of every year by eight teams representing eight districts in Tamil Nadu. Sankar Cements has been sponsoring the competition since its inception. The first season inaugurated by then Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni was won by Tuti Patriots.

Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL)
Official TNPL logo
Countries India
AdministratorTNCA
FormatTwenty20
First edition2016
Latest edition2019
Next edition2021
Tournament formatRound-robin league and Playoffs
Number of teams8
Current championChepauk Super Gillies (2nd title)
Most successfulChepauk Super Gillies (2 titles)
Most runsNarayan Jagadeesan (1240)[1]
Most wicketsR Sai Kishore (68)[2]
TVStar Sports
Websitetnpl.tnca.cricket

There have been four seasons of TNPL. The current champions, Chepauk Super Gillies are also the most successful team after winning the title in 2017 and 2019. The other teams which have won the title are Siechem Madurai Panthers and Tuti Patriots.

In 2019 two of the franchises were accused of match fixing which led to removal of co-owners of a franchise. However both franchises remained intact in the league.

It is one of the Regional cricket premier leagues of india.

History

Background

In 2016, the TNPL was launched at the time when Chennai Super Kings, the Tamil Nadu franchise playing Indian Premier League (IPL), was facing a two-year suspension from the league.[3][4] The league was aimed to make up for the absence of high-profile matches in Chennai in the year and to expose talented players from districts.[5][6] It was launched by then TNCA president N. Srinivasan, who is also the owner of Chennai Super Kings and TNPL's initial title sponsor, India Cements.[3][6][7]

Franchise rights
Winning bidders
Owner Franchise Price
Thoothukudi Sports Tuti Patriots ₹5.21 crore (US$730,000)
Metronation Chennai Chepauk Super Gillies ₹5.13 crore (US$720,000)
Lyca Productions Lyca Kovai Kings ₹5.01 crore (US$700,000)
Kothari (Madras) Ltd. Madurai Panthers ₹4.001 crore (US$560,000)
Ruby Builders Trichy Warriors ₹3.69 crore (US$520,000)
V.B. Chandrasekar Thiruvallur Veerans ₹3.48 crore (US$490,000)
Take Solutions Ltd Dindigul Dragons ₹3.42 crore (US$480,000)
Chettinad Apparels Karaikudi Kaalai ₹3.3 crore (US$460,000)

On 1 May 2016, TNCA invited bidders for the eight franchise rights.[8][9] A total of 17 bidders participated in the bidding process. Members of TNCA were not allowed to participate.[3] The base price set for each franchise was ₹1.25 crore (US$180,000) for a period of 10 years. After the auction, the amount TNCA earned from franchise rights was ₹33.51 crore (US$4.7 million) which was more than three times the minimum bid amount.[10][3] Thoothukudi Sports was the highest bidder who chose Thoothukudi for ₹5.21 crore (US$730,000). The second highest was Metronation Chennai Television Pvt. Ltd which bought the Chennai team ₹5.13 crore (US$720,000).[10]

Inauguration

On 16 August 2016, the first edition was inaugurated by MS Dhoni in Chennai.[6][11] The first edition featured popular players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik and Lakshmipathy Balaji. It also featured players registered with the state association.[5] Robin Singh and Michael Bevan were appointed as coaches. Matthew Hayden was the brand ambassador of the league. BookMyShow.com sold the match tickets from ₹50 while Star Sports were the TV broadcasters.[6]

Outstation players registered with the TNCA like Piyush Chawla and Hardik Pandya were expected to join the season.[10][6] However, they did not since TNCA was not given permission at the time by the BCCI.[6][12][13]

The season was played from 24 August to 18 September. Tuti Patriots emerged as the champions in the final against Chepauk Super Gillies held in M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.[14]

Organisation

Tournament format

The eight teams play against each other in the league phase in round-robin format. Teams will get two points for each win. At the end of the league stage, top four teams in the points table will qualify for the playoffs. Much like the IPL, the playoffs consist of three matches before the final: one eliminator and two qualifiers. The top two teams from the league phase will play against each other in the Qualifier 1, with the winner going straight to the final and the loser getting another chance to qualify for the final by playing the Qualifier 2. Meanwhile, the third and fourth place teams from league phase play against each other in an eliminator match and the winner from that match will advance to play the Qualifier 2. The winner of this match will head to final to meet the winner of Qualifier 1, where the winner will be crowned champions.

Player acquisition and salaries
Abhinav Mukund is one of the only two players in the draft's Category A in 2020 (the other being Vijay Shankar)

Players draft takes place months before the tournament. Teams can acquire a maximum and minimum players of 22 and 16 respectively.[15] They are allowed to retain three players each from last season.[16] Players at the draft are split in four categories on the basis of their experience.[15][17]

Player categories in the draft
Category Description Salary
A Players with international cricket experience ₹6 lakh
B1-B2 First class cricketers who have played at least 20 TNPL matches ₹2−3 lakh
C Others ₹50,000−1 lakh

The salary cap for the most experienced players (Category A) was ₹5 lakh (US$7,000) in 2016.[10] In 2020, it was ₹6 lakh (US$8,400).[17]

Until 2020, BCCI prevented TNCA from allowing outstation players to participate in the league.[12][13][6] A maximum of 2 outstation players can be in a team given that they are not currently in any IPL team. A separate draft for outstation players is scheduled to happen after 2020 IPL season for TNPL season 5.[18]

Sponsorship and revenues

The title sponsor from the inception was India Cements Limited whose term ended in 2019. In the first edition TNCA had earned a total of ₹33.51 crore in franchise rights. This was the highest among all the local T20 leagues in India.[3] The business model followed by TNPL is similar to the IPL's model.[19] For the first five years, central rights (broadcast fees and sponsorship fees) will be shared 80 per cent among the eight franchises with the rest going to the administrator TNCA.[10] This excludes the match staging costs. As much as 65 per cent will be divided equally between the franchises with the rest 15 per cent given to the franchises as per their standing in the league.[10] Gate collections are not shared with the franchises.[19] To attract sponsors, owners were advised to name their teams after districts in the state.[8]

In 2019, some of the franchises faced financial difficulties and asked TNCA to bring changes to the revenue sharing model of the league.[19]

Prize money

The prize money split between the teams are:[3][20]

  • Champions – ₹1 crore (US$140,000)
  • Runner up – ₹60 lakh (US$84,000)
  • Two semi-finalists – ₹40 lakh (US$56,000) each
  • Remaining participants – ₹25 lakh (US$35,000)

Teams

There are eight franchises competing in league.[21] The franchises are named after a district it is representing in the state.[8][3] Each team can have a maximum of 22 players that includes two outstation players.[15][18] In 2020, two of the franchises changed their names and bases – Tuti Patriots of Thoothukudi shifted to Salem featuring as Salem Spartans and Karaikudi Kaalai became Tiruppur Tamizhans of Tiruppur.[22]

Team locations and match venues
Team City District Captain Coach Owner
Chepauk Super Gillies Chennai Chennai Kaushik Gandhi Hemang Badani Metronation Chennai Television Private Limited - Dailythanthi
Lyca Kovai Kings Coimbatore Coimbatore Unnamed Sriram Somayajula Lyca Productions
Dindigul Dragons Dindigul Dindigul Ravichandran Ashwin M. Venkataramana Take Solutions Ltd
Trichy Warriors (formerly Ruby Kanchi Warriors) Tiruchirapalli Tiruchirapalli Sai Kishore Tinu Yohannan Ruby Builders
iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans (formerly Karaikudi Kaalai) Tiruppur Tiruppur iDream Cinemas and iDream Properties
Siechem Madurai Panthers (formerly Madurai Super Giant) Madurai Madurai Arun Karthik Bharath Reddy Pooja Damodaran
Salem Spartans (formerly Tuti Patriots) Salem Salem Ramaswamy Prasanna Vivo Chennai south distributor Selvakumar M
V. B. Kanchi Veerans (formely V. B. Thiruvallur Veerans) Kanchipuram Kanchipuram Baba Aparajith Bharat Arun and Muttiah Muralitharan V B Chandrasekhar

Venues

A total of three venues were used until 2019. Grounds in Dindigul and Tirunelveli hosts every match in the league stages between them.[23] The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is generally used for only two matches in the playoff stages including the final.[23]

Two new venues in Coimbatore and Salem are slated to host matches from 2020 onwards.[22] The ground in Coimbatore was expected to host matches in the fourth season itself. But TNCA wanted age-group tournaments held there first before TNPL.[24][22] The Chennai venue will not host matches in the upcoming season.[25]

Panaroma of the M A Chidambaram stadium
Stadium City Capacity
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk Stadium) Chennai 39,000
Sri Ramakrishna Institutions Cricket Ground Coimbatore 10,000
NPR College Ground Dindigul 5,000
Indian Cement Company Ground (ICL Sankar Nagar Cricket Ground) Tirunelveli 4,000[26]
Salem Cricket Foundation Stadium Salem 5000–25,000

Tournament results
TNPL season results
Season Final Final venue No. of teams Player of the series
Winner Winning margin Runner-up
2016
Details		 Tuti Patriots
215/2 (20 overs)		 Won by 122 runs
(Scorecard)		 Chepauk Super Gillies
93 all out (18.5 overs)		 M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai 8 Narayan Jagadeesan
2017
Details		 Chepauk Super Gillies
145/4 (19 overs)		 Won by 6 wickets
(Scorecard)		 Tuti Patriots
143/8 (20 overs)		 8 Washington Sundar
2018
Details		 Siechem Madurai Panthers
119/3 (17.1 overs)		 Won by 7 wickets
(Scorecard)		 Dindigul Dragons
117 all out (19.5 overs)		 8 Arun Karthik
2019
Details		 Chepauk Super Gillies

126/8 (20 overs)

 Won by 12 runs

(Scorecard)

 Dindigul Dragons

114/9 (20 overs)

 8 G Periyaswamy

Teams' performances
Team 2016 2017 2018 2019
Chepauk Super Gillies 2nd 1st 8th 1st
Lyca Kovai Kings 4th 4th 3rd 5th
Dindigul Dragons 3rd 6th 2nd 2nd
Trichy Warriors (formerly Ruby Kanchi Warriors) 7th 7th 6th 7th
iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans (formerly Karaikudi Kaalai) 5th 3rd 4th 8th
Siechem Madurai Panthers (formerly Madurai Super Giant) 8th 8th 1st 3rd
Salem Spartans (formerly Tuti Patriots) 1st 2nd 5th 6th
V. B. Kanchi Veerans (formely V. B. Thiruvallur Veerans) 6th 5th 7th 4th

Seasons

Fourth season (2019)

The fourth season was held from 19 July to 15 August 2019 after the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[24] The season was inaugurated by Indian national team cricketer Kedar Jadhav.[23] Siechem Madurai Panthers were the defending champions. Finishing first in league stage, Dindigul Dragons lost to Chepauk Supper Gillies in the Qualifier 1 match. They defeated the Madurai Panthers in the Qualifier 2 to play Chepauk again in the finals in Chennai where Chepauk won to claim their second TNPL title.[27]

Points table
Pos Team Mat Win Loss N/R Pts NRR
1 Dindigul Dragons (R) 7 6 1 0 12 0.694
2 Chepauk Super Gillies (C) 7 5 2 0 10 1.391
3 Siechem Madurai Panthers 7 5 2 0 10 0.703
4 V. B. Kanchi Veerans 7 4 3 0 8 0.552
5 Lyca Kovai Kings 7 4 3 0 8 0.255
6 Tuti Patriots 7 2 5 0 4 -1.151
7 Trichy Warriors 7 1 6 0 2 -0.486
8 iDream Karaikudi Kaalai 7 1 6 0 2 -2.019
Source: ESPNCricinfo
  •   advanced to Playoffs

Playoffs
Preliminary Final
  15 August — Chennai
11 August — Tirunelveli
1 Dindigul Dragons 164/7 (20 overs)
2 Chepauk Super Gillies 169/7 (20 overs) 2 Chepauk Super Gillies 126/8 (20 overs)
Chepauk won by 5 runs
(Qualifier 1)		 1 Dindigul Dragons 114/9 (20 overs)
Chepauk won by 12 runs 
13 August — Dindigul
1 Dindigul Dragons 175/6 (20 overs)
3 Siechem Madurai Panthers 130/10 (19.5 overs)
Dindigul won by 45 runs
(Qualifier 2)
11 August — Tirunelveli
3 Siechem Madurai Panthers 152/5 (20 overs)
4 V. B. Kanchi Veerans 151/6 (20 overs)
Madurai won by 5 wickets
(Eliminator)

Fifth season (2021)

The 2020 season which was scheduled to begin on 10 June 2020 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28] On 18 May 2020, TNCA issued a statement saying that the revised schedule will be released in due course.[29]

Records

Highest totals
Score Team Opponent Season
215/2 Tuti Patriots Chepauk Super Gillies 2016
206/4 V. B. Kanchi Veerans Trichy Warriors
203/6 Dindigul Dragons Siechem Madurai Panthers 2018
199/7 Lyca Kovai Kings 2016
197/3 V. B. Kanchi Veerans 2017

Sources:[30][31][32][33]

Highest individual scores
Batsman Runs Balls Opponent Season
Baba Aparajith (Kanchi Veerans) 118* 63 Karaikudi Kaalai 2016
Bharath Shankar (Trichy Warriors) 112* 68 2017
Kaushik Gandhi (Tuti Patriots) 111* 68 Kanchi Veerans 2018
Washington Sundar (Tuti Patriots) 107 61 Super Gillies 2017
Arun Karthik (Madurai Panthers) 106 61 Kovai Kings 2019

Sources:[34][35][36][37]

Title sponsorship

From 2016 to 2019, India Cements Limited (Sankar Cement) owned the title rights of the league.[7][38][39] A tender for new title rights sponsor was released in March 2020 by TNCA.[40][39]

Sponsor Period
India Cements Limited 2016–2019
TBA 2020–2022

Broadcasting

In 2016, Star India acquired the media rights for ₹7.1 crore and became the broadcast partners of the league.[3][41][42] The deal is worth between ₹7.2 crore and 10 crore for the first year, and ₹8 crore and 12 crore in the second, based on calculations.[10] Star India broadcasts the matches in Star Sports 1 and Start Sports 1 HD with English commentary and in Star Sports Tamil with Tamil commentary.[20] Star also broadcasts via their OTT platform, Hotstar.[43]

Winning bidder Terms of deal Fee
Star Sports 2016–2020 ₹7.1 crore (US$1.0 million)

Criticisms and controversies

Franchises facing financial difficulties

On 26 May 2019, several franchise owners under financial distress wrote to TNCA asking for changes made in the upcoming season. The leaked letter signed by teams Tuti Patriots, Lyca Kovai Kings, Siechem Madurai Panthers, Ruby Trichy Warriors and iDream Karaikudi Kaalai was confidential in nature.[19][44] The franchise owners and TNCA were both upset about the leak of the letter which had caused negative image towards the league.[44]

The main concerns in the letter were regarding the lack of outstation players' participation, quality of umpiring, unavailability of Tamil Nadu players who represent India and matches being held in relatively smaller venues.[19][45] The franchises were also concerned over the viewership for the league and the television rating points. The league was criticised for not sharing the gate collections with the franchises, following IPL model.[19] Unable to recover the expenses, franchises have reportedly suffered losses ranging from ₹15−25 crore . They suggested several changes for TNPL. They asked TNCA to allow outstation players and to ask Tamil Nadu players who represent India to take part in the league. They also demanded a better revenue sharing method to prevent losses of the franchises.[45][46][19]

On 4 June 2019 in a meeting with the owners, TNCA's reacted to the issue saying that it shares 80 per cent of the telecast and sponsorship fees with the franchises and the association gains only a net ₹5 crore from TNPL after meeting all expenses.[44] Some owners were unsatisfied with the response and demanded a forensic audit of TNPL's accounts.[44]

Match-fixing allegations

In 2019, Tuti Patriots and Madurai Panthers faced match fixing allegations. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said that these franchises were suspended due to connection with bookies but TNCA said that they were not.[47][46][48] However, TNCA has asked franchise Tuti Patriots to remove two of their co-owners in link to the corruption.[49] In 2020, Tuti Patriots were renamed as Salem Spartans for the next season due to the change in ownership.[22]

See also

References
  1. "TNPL Most runs". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  2. "TNPL Most wickets". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  3. Ananth, Dharani Thangavelu,Venkat (9 June 2016). "Backed by N Srinivasan, Tamil Nadu gets its own Premier League". Livemint. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  4. "Tamil Nadu Premier League". TNCA. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  5. "TNCA announces franchise-based T20 league". ESPNcricinfo. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  6. Vaidya, Jaideep. "TNPL: Banned from the IPL for spot-fixing? If you are N Srinivasan, you just start your own league". Scroll.in. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  7. Babu, Gireesh (18 August 2016). "Coca Cola, Star India, India Cements to sponsor Tamil Nadu's T20". Business Standard India. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. Dinakar, S. (28 April 2016). "TNPL is full of possibilities, says CEO". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  9. Staff, CricketCountry (22 April 2016). "Tamil Nadu Premier League: TNCA reveals duration, salary cap". Cricket Country. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  10. Desk, Internet (3 August 2016). "Tamil Nadu Premier League: the facts and figures". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  11. "Dhoni launches the TNPL". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 19 August 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 March 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. Dinakar, S. (21 August 2016). "TNPL: BCCI's response awaited". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  13. Rao, K Shriniwas (30 June 2017). "BCCI's no to TNPL for other states' players could lead to bigger repercussions". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  14. "Cricket scorecard - TUTI Patriots vs Chepauk Super Gillies, Final, Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2016". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  15. Sportstar, Team. "TNPL Players Draft 2020: Mukund goes to Tamizhans, Spartans picks Vijay Shankar". Sportstar. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  16. "Vijay for Salem; Tiruppur gets Abhinav". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  17. Reporter, Sports (20 February 2020). "TNPL Season-5 draft today". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  18. "TNPL Player's Draft: Salem pick Disability World Series star - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  19. "Franchises, running in huge losses, demand changes in TNPL". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  20. "TNPL 2018: Prize money, venues, squads, schedule and telecast". cricket.yahoo.net. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  21. admin. "Teams". Tamil Nadu Premier League. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  22. "Coimbatore, Salem on TNPL map this season". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  23. Staff, TNM. "TN Premier League off to a grand start, to be played in 3 cities this time". www.thenewsminute.com. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  24. Dinakar, S. "TNPL likely to begin after World Cup". Sportstar. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  25. Ragav, S. Dipak (16 February 2020). "Chennai may not host TNPL matches this year". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  26. "An improved Tirunel-welcome for fans". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  27. S.Dinakar. "TNPL 2019: Bowlers hand Chepauk Super Gillies second title in three years". Sportstar. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  28. "TNPL 2020 postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic". The Indian Express. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  29. "TNCA - Tamil Nadu Cricket Association". www.tnca.cricket. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  30. "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2017 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  31. "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2018 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  32. "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2016 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  33. "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2019 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  34. "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2018 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  35. "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2016 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  36. "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2019 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  37. "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2017 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  38. admin. "About TNPL". Tamil Nadu Premier League. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  39. admin. "The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Issues Tender For Title Rights Of The Tamil Nadu Premier League 2020 To 2022". Tamil Nadu Premier League. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  40. "Tender_Notice - ITT-Covering-Information.pdf" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  41. "Star India set to bag TNPL media rights - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  42. "TNPL - Tamil Nadu Premier League". www.tnca.cricket. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  43. DindigulJuly 19, India Today Web Desk; July 19, 2019UPDATED; Ist, 2019 15:41. "Tamil Nadu Premier League 2019: TNPL Live Streaming, Telecast, When and where to watch". India Today. Retrieved 1 March 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  44. "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  45. "'Bleeding' franchises demand changes in TNPL - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  46. "Tamil Nadu Premier League Owners Want Better Revenue Model, Quality Umpires For Next Edition". Outlook. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  47. Scroll Staff. "Crores placed on a Tamil Nadu Premier League game prompted gambling site to stop taking bets: Report". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  48. "A bookie approached a player in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy reveals Sourav Ganguly". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  49. Scroll Staff. "TNPL franchises to remain despite corruption links, co-owners of team Tuti Patriots expelled: Report". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 March 2020.


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