The cricket tiruvizhaa (festival) of TN is going to start and the frenzy is sky high for the event!!!! What more, start the kuthu (folk) song of the TNPL and vibe with the tagline Namma Ooru Namma Gethu!! The TNPL, for the first time, will not be hosting any game at Chepauk and has introduced and would be playing in two new grounds in Salem and Coimbatore. The four grounds where the matches are going to happen are Indian Cement Company Ground in Tirunelveli, the NPR College Ground in Dindigul, the SNR College Cricket Ground in Coimbatore, and the Salem Cricket Foundation Stadium in Salem.
Where To Watch: Star Sports (Television Streaming), Voot App (Free Online Streaming)
Schedule:
Image Courtesy: TNCA
iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans:
Head Coach: Yo Mahesh V
Captain: Srikkanth Aniruda
Tagline: #TamizhanDa #meesayamurukkisollu
2021 Squad: S Dinesh, S Manigandan , R Rajkumar, S Mohan Prasath, S Siddharth, S Aravind, Maan K Bafna, P Francis Rokins, K Gowtham Thamarai Kannan, Aswin Crist, Tushar Raheja, A Karuppusamy, C Shriram, M Mohammed, Dinesh Karthik, N Mohammed Ashik, M Affan Khader, Adhithya Giridhar, L Sathiyannaarayan, S T Natarajan, R I Raaj Kumar, S Ashwin Balaji , M Rooban Raj
2022 Squad: Abhishek M Hegde, Anand Subramanian, Aniruda S, Aravind S, Aswin Crist A, Chandrasekhar DT, Dinesh Karthik, Francis Rokins P, Gowtham Thamarai Kannan, Karuppusamy A, Maan K Baafna, Manigandan S, Mohammed M, Mohan Prasath S, Natarajan ST, Parthasarathy G, Rajkumar R, Sathiya Narayanan L, Sharun Kumar S, Siddharth S, Suresh Kumar S, Tushar Raheja
IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, formerly known as IDream Kaaraikudi Kalai, changed their base from Kaaraikudi to Tiruppur during the 2021 edition. The franchise has retained almost the core team from the previous edition and have taken in few new faces and some from the other franchises and would be raring to go for the upcoming edition.
The team started off as Karaikudi Kaalai in the 2016 edition and missed the cutoff to reach the top 4 by a small whisker albeit the NRR coming into play to Lyca Kovai Kings. Lyca Kovai Kings and Kaaraikudi Kaalai finished with NRR’s of +0.384 and +0.020 respectively. The initial edition was led by ex-India and Tamilnadu Cricketer S Badrinath with the likes of S Anirudha, Rajhamany Srininvasan, C Ganapathy, Mohan Abhinav, Sonu Yadav, Vishal Vaidhya in the mix.
In the 2017 and 2018 edition, they qualified to the playoffs only to surrender to Lyca Kovai Kings in both the editions in the Eliminator.
The 2019 edition was really a forgettable one for the franchise as they could only win 1 out of the 7 matches even with S Badrinath part of the coaching team. The 2021 edition also saw them surrender except to show their grit in the last few matches but the time was over by that time.
This edition, the notable star of the squad, Dinesh Karthik will not be available as he would be travelling with the national squad for the Ireland series and may also get a callup for the England T20I series. In his absence, the opportunity now for filling his shoes behind the stumps goes for N Mohammed Ashik who previously played for Lyca Kovai Kings and now is an important part of the team.
From the retained players, we have Maan K Bafna who is a notable all rounder for the franchise contributing both with the bat and the ball. He was picked for Kaaraikudi Kalai during the 2018 season and from then has been an integral part of the setup. Maan Baafna was retained both during the 2021 and 2022 draft picks and would provide strength to the middle order.
Maan K Baafna
The new players to the setup include DT Chandrasekhar who has been picked from Siechem Madurai Panthers and is a notable face in the domestic circuit of TN. Others include Srikkanth Aniruda (from Ruby Trichy Warriors), Sharun Kumar S (from Nellai Royal Kings) and some new faces in Abhishek M Hegde (from Kerala), Anand Subramanian, .
S Aniruda
The batting front has S Siddharth who did not spark much last edition but is expected to give his best shot this season in the top order. N Ashik, who would be donning the gloves behind the stumps would also like to contribute more with the bat and ensure the team gets to the playoffs this time. Return of Srikkanth Aniruda who was the team’s captain during the 2018 and 2019 edition when S Badrinath was the coach would boost the top order conundrums the teams faced last edition. The middle order of Maan Bafna, Tushar Raheja and Rajkumar would be raring to go this season.
Aswin Crist
M Mohammed
In the bowling front, the likes of Aswin Crist, Thamarai Kannan, S Manigandan, Sharun Kumar S, M Mohammed, would bring in the experience and talent to the foray. M Mohammed is a seasoned campaigner in the domestic circuit as well as for the state and has been an reliable resource for the teams he had played.
iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans start the TNPL 2022 with their opening fixture against Ruby Trichy Warriors on June 27 at Tirunelveli Indian Cement Company Grounds. Live streaming would start from 7:15 PM
Probable Playing XI: S Aniruda (C), Mohammed Ashik (WK),Tushar Raheja, Maan K Bafna, Francis Rokins / S Siddharth, S Aravind, M Mohammed, R Rajkumar, Aswin Crist, K Gowtham Thamarai Kannan, Sharun Kumar / Mohan Prasath S
Salem Spartans:
Head Coach: Ram Prakash
Captain: M Ashwin
Tagline: #vanakkamdamapla
2021 Squad: B Praanesh , S Abishiek, Akshay V Srinivasan, Murugan Ashwin , S Boopalan, Daryl S Ferrario, M Ganesh Moorthi, KH Gopinath, TD Lokesh Raj, G Periyasamy, S Shubham Mehta, U Sushil, M Vijay Kumar, Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar, Karthikeyan R, Kishore G, Aarif A, R Karthikeyan, M Suganesh, Abhinav Vishnu, AVR Rathnam.
2022 Squad: S Abishiek, Akshay V Srinivasan, Murugan Ashwin , S Boopalan, Daryl S Ferrario, Dinesh Veda Guru M, M Ganesh Moorthi, Ganesh S, KH Gopinath, Jafar Jamal, Jeet S Jain, Kamesh M, Karthikeyan R, Kavin R, Kishoor G, TD Lokesh Raj, G Periyasamy, B Praanesh, Karthikeyan R, Rishi R, Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar MS.
Salem Spartans (formerly known as Albert Tuti Patriots) has had its ownership changed from Thoothukodi Sports and Private entertainment LTD to M.Selvakumar ( VIVO South Chennai distributor). The co-owners of the franchises Siechem Madurai Panthers and Tuti Patriots were accused of match fixing in 2019 and led to the removal of the co-owners of both the franchises and Tuti Patriots had to change it’s ownership and re-name themselves as Salem Spartans changing their base from Thoothukudi to Salem during last edition.
The TUTI Patriots were one of the most successful franchises of the TNPL and were always into the playoffs until last 2018. The most successful edition was the inaugural edition in 2016 wherein they rallied to beat Chepauk Super Gillies by 122 runs to lift the trophy ably led by the successful ex-TN captain and wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik. The team had stars like Washington Sundar, Athisayaraj Davidson, Aushik Srinivas, Abhinav Mukund, L Balaji, Aswin Crist etc.
In the next year, CSG took their revenge and comfortably chased the target of 146 set by TUTI Patriots and they snatched away the trophy from the defending champions. The 2018 edition made them lose their playoff spot to IDream Kaaraikudi Kaalai by the way of NRR coming into play with IDKK having NRR of +0.505 and TUTI Patriots having an NRR +0.432. The 2019 edition saw them finish 6th in the points table with just 2 wins from 7 matches.
2021 edition didn’t do much good for the team as the team, despite having good talents, finished at 7th and they would be raring to go for the kill in the upcoming edition.
The team is led by Daryl S Ferrario who hails from Kerala. Ferrario played for the Tamil Nadu U-14, U-16 and U-19 before shifting his base to Kerala in 2016. He played for Kerala from 2016-2019 and has now returned back to Tamil Nadu. The team on the whole would be working forward to come back stronger from the last edition where they had a poor outing.
The team has retained it’s core which played the last edition and have picked some exciting young talents along with young and dynamic wicketkeeper in Kavin R who played for Lyca Kovai Kings last edition. The wicket keeping duties from KH Gopinath and U Sushil who played last edition for Salem would now go to Kavin and he would be raring to do wonders behind the stumps. Kavin would have the backup keeper in Dinesh Veda Guru M who plays for SKM Cricket Club and is an active wicket keeper.
R Kavin
The batting pack is loaded with K H Gopinath who previously played for CSG and is in the top 5 scorers of all time TNPL with 954 runs with a S/R of 129.44. His best of 82 came against Lyca Kovai Kings wherein he stitched a partnership of 106 with Ganga Sridhar Raju in a low scoring chase of 115 and crushed LKK. Akshay Srinivasan follows K H Gopinath and fills the top order with the rest of the pack consisting of Vijay Shankar, R Kavin, S Abhishiek and Daryl Ferrario. The new entrant Jafar Jammal from Kerala is an exciting prospect and may get a nod for replacing Akshay Srinivasan at the top with KH Gopinath.
Vijay Shankar
KH Gopinath
Jafar Jammal
The bowling and the all rounders pack is led by Murugan Ashwin who is an experienced campaigner of the league and also represented the state and also successful in IPL. He has played for RCB under Virat Kohli, played for Punjab Kings under KL Rahul and now played for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 under Rohit Sharma and chipped in with wickets at times when needed. M Ashwin also provides some impetus with the willow by hitting some useful runs and also some blows down the order. Since there is a cloud over Washington Sundar’s fitness, all onus will be on M Ashwin to lead the all rounders pack with ease and experience.
M Ashwin
G Periyasamy
G Periyasamy leads the pace attack with support from Vijay Shankar and TD Lokesh Raj with the spin department consisting of the star spinner M Ashwin ably supported by Ganesh Moorthi M who was the star of the 2016 final where he took a hat-trick and sealed the trophy for the Tuti Patriots and new bowler in Rishi R.
Salem Spartans start the TNPL 2022 with their opening fixture against Nellai Royal Kings on June 25 at Tirunelveli Indian Cement Company Grounds. Live streaming would start from 7:15 PM
Probable Playing XI: K H Gopinath, Akshay V Srinivasan / Jafar Jamal, Vijay Shankar, R Kavin (WK), Daryl Ferrario S, S Abishiek, B Praanesh / T D Lokesh Raj, M Ashwin (C), G Periyasamy, Ganesh Moorthi M, S Boopalan
