Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL)
Official TNPL logo
CountriesIndia
AdministratorTNCA
FormatTwenty20
First edition2016
Latest edition2022
Next edition2023
Tournament formatRound Robin format with Group System and Playoffs
Number of teams8
Current championLyca Kovai Kings (2023)
Most successfulChepauk Super Gillies (4 titles)
Most runsNarayan Jagadeesan (1240)[1]
Most wicketsR Sai Kishore (85)[2]
TVStar Sports (TV)
Fancode (Internet)
Websitetnpl.cricket

The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) is a men's Twenty20 (T20) cricket league that is annually held in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and contested by eight city-based franchise teams. The league was formed in 2016 by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA).[3][4] It is usually played during post summer season from June to August of every year. Shriram Group is the current title sponsor of the tournament.[5]

As of 2023, there have been seven seasons of the tournament. The present title holder is Lyca Kovai Kings.Chepauk Super Gillies are the most successful team after winning the title four times.

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.[6][7] 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.[8][9] It was conceived by former BCCI president and then TNCA president N. Srinivasan.[6][9][10]

Franchise rights

On 1 May 2016, TNCA invited bidders for the eight franchise rights.[11][12] A total of 17 bidders participated in the bidding process and current members of TNCA were not allowed to participate.[6] The base price set for each franchise was ₹1.25 crore (US$160,000) for a period of 10 years. The franchise rights was sold for ₹33.51 crore (US$4.2 million) and the highest bidder chose Salem for ₹5.21 crore (US$650,000).[13][6]

Winning bidders
Owner Franchise Price
Vivo South Chennai distributor Selvakumar Salem Spartans ₹5.21 crore (US$650,000)
Metronation Chennai Chepauk Super Gillies ₹5.13 crore (US$640,000)
Lyca Productions Lyca Kovai Kings ₹5.01 crore (US$630,000)
Kothari (Madras) Ltd. Madurai Panthers ₹4.001 crore (US$500,000)
Drumstick Productions Ba11sy Trichy ₹3.69 crore (US$460,000)
Crown Forts Ltd. Nellai Royal Kings ₹3.48 crore (US$440,000)
Take Solutions Ltd Dindigul Dragons ₹3.42 crore (US$430,000)
I Dream cinemas iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans ₹3.3 crore (US$410,000)

Foundation

On 16 August 2016, the first edition was inaugurated by MS Dhoni in Chennai.[9][14] The first edition featured international cricketers including Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik and Lakshmipathy Balaji. Former cricketers Robin Singh and Michael Bevan were among the coaches. Matthew Hayden was the brand ambassador of the league. No players representing other state associations participated in the inaugural season as they were not given permission at the time by the BCCI.[9][15][16] Star Sports were the TV broadcasters.[9] The first season was played from 24 August to 18 September.[17]

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 was one of the two players in the draft's Category A in 2020

Teams can acquire a maximum and minimum players of 22 and 16 respectively.[18] They are allowed to retain three players each from last season.[19] Player draft takes place before every season and the players are placed in four categories on the basis of their experience.[18][20]

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$6,300) in 2016.[13] In 2020, it was ₹6 lakh (US$7,500).[20]

Until 2020, BCCI prevented TNCA from allowing outstation players to participate in the league.[15][16][9] 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 happened after 2020 IPL season for TNPL season 5.[21]

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.[6] The business model followed by TNPL is similar to the IPL's model.[22] 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.[13] 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.[13] Gate collections are not shared with the franchises.[22] To attract sponsors, owners were advised to name their teams after districts in the state.[11]

In 2019, some of the franchises faced financial difficulties and asked TNCA to bring changes to the revenue sharing model of the league.[22]

Prize money

The prize money split between the teams are:[6][23]

  • Champions – ₹1 crore (US$130,000)
  • Runner up – ₹60 lakh (US$75,000)
  • Two semi-finalists – ₹40 lakh (US$50,000) each
  • Remaining participants – ₹25 lakh (US$31,000)

Teams

Current Teams

There are eight franchises competing in league.[24] The franchises are named after a city it is representing in the state.[11][6] Each team can have a maximum of 22 players that includes two outstation players.[18][21]

Locations of the TNPL teams
Chepauk Super Gillies
Chepauk Super Gillies
Lyca Kovai Kings
Lyca Kovai Kings
Dindigul Dragons
Dindigul Dragons
Ba11sy Trichy
Ba11sy Trichy
Tiruppur Tamizhans
Tiruppur Tamizhans
Madurai Panthers
Madurai Panthers
Salem Spartans
Salem Spartans
Nellai Royal Kings
Nellai Royal Kings
Team locations
Team City Captain Coach Owner
Salem Spartans Salem Kaushik Gandhi Robin Bist Vivo Chennai south distributor Selvakumar M
Chepauk Super Gillies Chennai - Hemang Badani Metronation Chennai Television Private Limited - Dailythanthi
Lyca Kovai Kings Coimbatore Shahrukh Khan Sriram Somayajula Lyca Productions
Dindigul Dragons Dindigul Hari Nishaanth Subramaniam Badrinath Take Solutions Ltd
Ba11sy Trichy Tiruchirapalli Rahil Shah Tinu Yohannan N. Srinivasan
Tiruppur Tamizhans Tiruppur Mohammed R. Prasanna iDream Cinemas and iDream Properties
Madurai Panthers Madurai Arun Karthik Bharath Reddy Pooja Damodaran
Nellai Royal Kings Tirunelveli Baba Aparajith A. G. Guruswamy Crown Forts Limited

Defunct teams

Team City
Tuti Patriots (2016–19) Thoothukudi
Karaikudi Kaalai (2016–19) Karaikudi
V. B. Kanchi Veerans (2018, 19) Kanchipuram
V. B. Thiruvallur Veerans (2016, 17) Tiruvallur
Ruby Kanchi Warriors (2016) Kanchipuram
Madurai Super Giants (2016, 17) Madurai
Ruby Trichy Warriors (2017–22) Tiruchirappalli

Venues

Three venues were used for the first few seasons until 2019. Dindigul and Tirunelveli hosted matches in the league stages and the playoffs in Chennai.[25]

Salem and Coimbatore started hosting matches from the 2020 season.[26][27][28]

Panaroma of the M A Chidambaram stadium
Stadium City Capacity
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium Chennai 38,000[29]
Salem Cricket Foundation Stadium Salem 5,000 (expandable to 25,000)[30]
SNR College Cricket Ground Coimbatore Limited (expandable)[31]
NPR College Ground Dindigul 5,000[32]
Indian Cement Company Ground Tirunelveli 4,000[33]

Tournament seasons and results

Finals

Season Winner Winning margin Runner-up Final venue Player of the season
2016 Tuti Patriots
215/2 (20 overs)		 Patriots won by 122 runs
Scorecard		 Chepauk Super Gillies
93 all out (18.5 overs)		 M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Narayan Jagadeesan (CSG)
2017 Chepauk Super Gillies
145/4 (19 overs)		 Won by 6 wickets
Scorecard		 Tuti Patriots
143/8 (20 overs)		 Washington Sundar (TP)
2018 Madurai Panthers
119/3 (17.1 overs)		 Won by 7 wickets
Scorecard		 Dindigul Dragons
117 all out (19.5 overs)		 Arun Karthik (MP)
2019 Chepauk Super Gillies
126/8 (20 overs)		 Won by 12 runs
Scorecard		 Dindigul Dragons
114/9 (20 overs)		 Ganeshan Periyaswamy (CSG)
2021 Chepauk Super Gillies
183/6 (20 overs)		 Won by 8 runs
Scorecard		 Trichy Warriors
175/7 (20 overs)		 Narayan Jagadeesan (CSG)
2022 Chepauk Super Gillies and Kovai Kings
Joint winners		 No Result
Scorecard		 SNR College Cricket Ground, Coimbatore Sandeep Warrier (CSG)
Details Kovai Kings
205/5 (20 overs)		 Won by 104 runs
Scorecard		 Nellai Royal Kings
101 all out (15 overs)		 Indian Cement Company Ground Guruswamy Ajitesh (NRK)

Teams' performances

Season 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022^ 2023
Chepauk Super Gillies RU C 8th C C C 5th
Dindigul Dragons SF 6th RU RU PO 6th PO
Karaikudi Kaalai† 5th PO PO 8th –
Kovai Kings SF PO PO 5th PO C C
Madurai Panthers / Madurai Super Giants 8th 8th C PO 6th PO PO
Thiruvallur Veerans / Kanchi Veerans† 6th 5th 7th PO –
Ba11sy Trichy / Trichy Warriors 7th 7th 6th 7th RU 7th 8th
Tuti Patriots† C RU 5th 6th –
Nellai Royal Kings – 5th PO RU
Salem Spartans – 7th 8th 7th
Tiruppur Tamizhans – 8th 5th 6th
  • Teams are listed alphabetically by year of entry into the league

† Team now defunct ^ Final was a no-result and trophy shared

  •   C: champions
  •   RU: runner-up
  •   SF or PO: team qualified for the semi-final or playoff stage of the competition

Records

Highest totals

Score Team Opponent Season
236/2 Nellai Royal Kings Trichy Warriors 2022
215/2 Tuti Patriots Chepauk Super Gillies 2016
209/3 Nellai Royal Kings Siechem Madurai Panthers 2022
206/4 V. B. Kanchi Veerans Trichy Warriors 2016
205/5 Lyca Kovai Kings Nellai Royal Kings 2023
203/6 Dindigul Dragons Siechem Madurai Panthers 2018
203/8 Chepauk Super Gillies Trichy Warriors 2022
202/5 Dindigul Dragons Lyca Kovai Kings 2021
201/1 Lyca Kovai Kings Dindigul Dragons 2021
199/7 Lyca Kovai Kings Madurai Super Giants 2016
197/3 V. B. Kanchi Veerans 2017

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

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 Chepauk Super Gillies 2017
Arun Karthik (Madurai Panthers) 106 61 Kovai Kings 2019

Sources:[38][39][40][41]

Title sponsorship

From 2016 to 2019, India Cements Limited (Sankar Cement) owned the title rights of the league.[10][42][43] A tender for new title rights sponsor was released in March 2020 by TNCA.[44][43]

Sponsor Period
India Cements Limited 2016–2017
(India Cements Limited)

as Sankar Cements

 2018–2019
Shriram Group 2021–2023

Broadcasting

In 2016, Star India acquired the media rights for ₹7.1 crore and became the broadcast partners of the league.[6][45][46] 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.[13] Disney Star broadcasts the matches on Star Sports 1 HD with English Commentary and in Star Sports 1 Tamil HD with Tamil Commentary.[23] Star also broadcast via their OTT platform, Disney+ Hotstar.[47]

Satellite Television Rights

Winning bidder Terms of deal Fee
Star Sports 2016–2023 ₹7.1 crore (US$890,000)

Digital Rights

Winning bidder Terms of deal Fee
Disney Star 2016–2021 ₹7.1 crore (US$890,000)
Voot (Internet) 2022
FanCode 2023

Criticisms and controversies

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, Trichy Warriors and iDream Karaikudi Kaalai was confidential in nature.[22][48] The franchise owners and TNCA were both upset about the leak of the letter which had caused negative image towards the league.[48]

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.[22][49] 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.[22] 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.[49][50][22]

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.[48] Some owners were unsatisfied with the response and demanded a forensic audit of TNPL's accounts.[48]

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.[51][50][52] However, TNCA has asked franchise Tuti Patriots to remove two of their co-owners in link to the corruption.[53] In 2020, Tuti Patriots were renamed as Salem Spartans for the next season due to the change in ownership.[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "TNPL Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "TNPL Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "TNCA announces franchise-based T20 league". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Srinivasan unveils eight-franchise TNPL". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "It'll be Shriram Capital TNPL this season". Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ananth, Dharani Thangavelu, Venkat (9 June 2016). "Backed by N Srinivasan, Tamil Nadu gets its own Premier League". Livemint. Retrieved 8 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League". TNCA. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "TNCA announces franchise-based T20 league". ESPNcricinfo. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vaidya, Jaideep (22 August 2016). "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.
  10. 1 2 Babu, Gireesh (18 August 2016). "Coca Cola, Star India, India Cements to sponsor Tamil Nadu's T20". Business Standard India. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 Dinakar, S. (28 April 2016). "TNPL is full of possibilities, says CEO". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  12. ↑ Staff, CricketCountry (22 April 2016). "Tamil Nadu Premier League: TNCA reveals duration, salary cap". Cricket Country. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Desk, Internet (3 August 2016). "Tamil Nadu Premier League: the facts and figures". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  14. ↑ "Dhoni launches the TNPL". The Hindu. 19 August 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  15. 1 2 Dinakar, S. (21 August 2016). "TNPL: BCCI's response awaited". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  16. 1 2 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.
  17. ↑ "Cricket scorecard - TUTI Patriots vs Chepauk Super Gillies, Final, Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2016". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  18. 1 2 3 Sportstar, Team. "TNPL Players Draft 2020: Mukund goes to Tamizhans, Spartans picks Vijay Shankar". Sportstar. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  19. ↑ "Vijay for Salem; Tiruppur gets Abhinav". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  20. 1 2 Reporter, Sports (20 February 2020). "TNPL Season-5 draft today". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  21. 1 2 "TNPL Player's Draft: Salem pick Disability World Series star - Times of India". The Times of India. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Franchises, running in huge losses, demand changes in TNPL". Cricbuzz. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  23. 1 2 "TNPL 2018: Prize money, venues, squads, schedule and telecast". cricket.yahoo.net. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  24. ↑ admin. "Teams". Tamil Nadu Premier League. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  25. ↑ "TN Premier League off to a grand start, to be played in 3 cities this time". News Minute. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  26. 1 2 "Coimbatore, Salem on TNPL map this season". The New Indian Express. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  27. ↑ Dinakar, S. (12 March 2020). "TNPL likely to begin after World Cup". Sportstar. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  28. ↑ Ragav, S. Dipak (16 February 2020). "Chennai may not host TNPL matches this year". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  29. ↑ "M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk". ESPNCrincinfo. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  30. ↑ "Salem to soon have a cricket stadium of international stature". Times of India. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  31. ↑ "SNR College Cricket Ground". CBF News. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  32. ↑ "NPR College Ground, Dindigul". Advance cricket. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  33. ↑ "An improved Tirunelveli ground welcome for fans". The New Indian Express. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  34. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2017 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  35. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2018 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  36. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2016 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  37. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2019 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  38. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2018 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  39. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2016 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  40. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2019 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  41. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League, 2017 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  42. ↑ admin. "About TNPL". Tamil Nadu Premier League. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  43. 1 2 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.
  44. ↑ "Tender_Notice - ITT-Covering-Information.pdf" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  45. ↑ "Star India set to bag TNPL media rights - Times of India". The Times of India. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  46. ↑ "TNPL - Tamil Nadu Premier League". www.tnca.cricket. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  47. ↑ "Tamil Nadu Premier League 2019: TNPL Live Streaming, Telecast, When and where to watch". India Today. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  48. 1 2 3 4 "TNCA meets franchise owners". Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2023 – via PressReader.
  49. 1 2 "'Bleeding' franchises demand changes in TNPL - Times of India". The Times of India. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  50. 1 2 "Tamil Nadu Premier League Owners Want Better Revenue Model, Quality Umpires For Next Edition". Outlook. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  51. ↑ Scroll Staff (7 December 2019). "Crores placed on a Tamil Nadu Premier League game prompted gambling site to stop taking bets: Report". Scroll.in. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  52. ↑ "A bookie approached a player in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy reveals Sourav Ganguly". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  53. ↑ Scroll Staff (5 December 2019). "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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