Andhra premier league or APL is a professional t-20 league that is organized by the Andhra Pradesh cricket association ACA. Six teams are taking part in the first-ever Andhra Pradesh Premier League. The teams that are taking part in the Andhra Pradesh Premier league are Uttarandhra Lions, Rayalaseema Kings, Godavari Titans, Coastal Riders, Bezawada Tigers, and Vizag Warriors. The logos of these teams were announced on the 21st of June. It has also been reported that all the Andhra Pradesh Premier league matches will take place in the Vishakhapatnam stadium. The league will begin on the 6th of July, and the finals are on the 17th of July.
Expectations from the first season of Andhra Pradesh Premier League
Undoubtedly this will be an excellent opportunity for youngsters and emerging players to showcase their talents on a bigger stage. The primary aim of the Andhra Pradesh Premier league is to give opportunities to young talents and groom them further to strengthen the future of the Indian cricket team. The teams will get exposure to great coaching and other facilities. This will allow the players to experience how things work in the bigger stages. The high competitiveness of the league will help the player to understand the pressure situation and helps to develop their skills further. Star sports and other local broadcasters will have the rights for this league, which will give the young players nationwide exposure. The players will also experience the auction process, which will strengthen them financially and help them grow further.
BCCI is looking forward to this league and trying to scout as many young talents as possible to give them opportunities in the future. This League will strengthen India’s overall domestic cricketing structure, and hence, the total cricketing system will grow.
Auction process of the Andhra Pradesh Premier League
The Andhra Pradesh Premier League’s auction process will be similar to the auction of The Indian Premier League. The Andhra Pradesh cricket association has already announced that 368 players are participating in the auction process. Another unique feature of this auction process is the inclusion of icon players. Overall, 12 icon players will participate in this league. Players with international experience or recognition are known as icon players. These 12 icon players will be evenly distributed among the six participating teams. Each team will have two icon players. Besides the young players will learn much from these icon players and improve their skills. Each icon player’s base price will be Rs. 2 lakhs.
The A category players will have a base price of Rs.1.5 lakhs. There will be 48 A category players. The base price for the B category players will be Rs. 1 lakh, and there will be 83 B category players. Finally, the base price for C category players will be Rs.50000. Each team will have a total budget of Rs.30 lakhs.
The Andhra Pradesh cricket association will significantly benefit from the Andhra Pradesh Premier League. It will generate tremendous revenue through television rights, sponsors, stadium tickets, and much more. This tournament will aid in the overall growth in cricket infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh cricket association can use that revenue to give better facilities and equipment to players, which will help them improve their skills.
Format of Andhra Pradesh Premier League
In the month of May, the Andhra Pradesh Cricket association got permission from BCCI to conduct this league. The Andhra Pradesh, Premier League format is a round-robin where each team will face the other twice. Each team will get 2 points if they win the game. If the match is abandoned for any reason, then both the teams will earn 1 point each.
The top 4 teams will qualify for the next knockout phase of the tournaments. The knockout stage of the Andhra Pradesh Premier League is similar to IPL. The 1st and 2nd placed teams will play the qualifier one, and the winner will directly advance to the finals. The 3rd and 4th ranked teams will play the eliminator, and the winner of that fixture will advance to qualifier 2, where they will face the loser of qualifier 1. The winner of qualifier 2 will go to the finals. This league winner, will get a decent sum of money. The runner-up and 2nd runner-up will also get decent prizes.
The Inaugural season of the Andhra Pradesh Premier League will be very successful, according to media and selectors of BCCI.
