TNPL, or Tamil Nadu Premier League, is a professional t-20 cricket league that the Tamil Nadu cricket association formed in 2016. Eight teams representing the eight districts of Tamil Nadu participated in this league competition. The timespan of the league is approximately 2 months. It takes place during July and August. The current sponsor of this league is the Shriram groups. The inaugural season of this league was inaugurated by the former captain of the Indian cricket team MS Dhoni. Undoubtedly Tuli patriots won the first season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League.
History of Tamil Nadu Premier League
The TNPL began in 2016 when the famous Indian premier league(IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings(CSK) got a ban of 2 years from the Indian Premier League. The primary motive of this league was to fulfill the absence of high-intensity Indian Premier League matches that took palace in Chennai’s Cheepuk stadium and also give opportunities to emerging talents in cricket.
The mastermind behind this League is the President of the Tamil Nadu cricket association, Mr. N. Srinivasn. Mr. Sri Nivasan is also the owner of the Indian Premier League Franchise Chennai Super Kings. He was also the owner of India cement, the first title sponsor of this league. Many emerging players get opportunities to showcase their talents in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. Indian selectors keep their eyes on this league as it is very competitive and can produce upcoming talents for the Indian cricket team.
Franchise rights of TNPL
On the 1st of May, 2016, the Tamil Nadu Cricket association invited bidders to bid for the then 8 teams participating in this league. Overall, 17 bidders participated in the first ver bidding rights for the Tamil Nadu Premier league teams. There was only one stipulation that the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association members were not allowed to participate in the bidding process.
The Tamil Nadu Cricket association set a base price of Rs.1.25 crore for ten years. When the overall auction process was done and dusted, the Tamil Nadu cricket association had made Rs.33.51 crore from selling all the eight franchise rights. The amount was more than three times the base price set by the Tamil Nadu cricket association. The Salem Spartans git the highest bid in the auction. It got an amount of Rs.5.21 crore. The 2nd costliest was the Chennai team, who were bought for Rs.5.13 crore.
Inaugural season
MS Dhoni inaugurated the first season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League. Many veteran players like Murli Vijay, Dinesh Kartik, R Ashwin, and many more took part in the first season of this league. Many players of the Tamil Nadu league association took part in this competition. Moreover Mathew Hayden was appointed the brand ambassador of this league in its first season. Start sports owned the Tamil Nadu premier league’s broadcast rights and sold tickets in BookMyShow. The tickets price were meager. Tickets for this league started from Rs.50.
Format of Tamil Nadu Premier League
The Tamil Nadu Premier League is in a round-robin format between the eight teams. The winning team gets two points for each win. When the league stage ends, the top 4 teams are qualified for the playoffs. The playoff stage consists of 1 eliminator and two qualifiers. The 3rd and 4th placed teams play the eliminator while the 1st and 2nd placed teams play qualifier one. The winner of the eliminator faces the loser of qualifier one, while the team that wins qualifier one gets a direct slot in the finals. Qualifier 2 consists of the winner of the eliminator and the loser of the qualifier 1. Whoever wins faces the winner of qualifier one in the finals.
Player price and winning amount of Tamil Nadu premier league
The players are placed into three categories in the auction of TNPL. A category was players with international experience. They had a base price of rs.6 lakh. B category was for players who have played more than 20 TNPL matches. Their price was Rs.2-3 lakhs. C category consisted of other players with a base price of rs.50,000-1lakh. The winning price of TNPL was Rs.1 crore, while the runner-ups got Rs.60 lakhs, and both semi-finalists got Rs.40 lakhs each. Moreover, a sum of Rs.25 lakhs is divided among the rest of the teams in the Tamil Nadu Premier League.
