Published: Aug 25, 2016, 05:20 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 25, 2016, 10:57 PM (IST)
Amidst all the fanfare and excitement, Tamil Nadu Premier League opened up at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai to witness its first match between Chepauk Super Gillies vs TUTI Patriots. The league had already created lot of buzz due to its promotional tactics all over the country which included the likes of Matthew Hayden coming in India for the promotions. Also this tournament being the first of its kind had already got lot of attention from all over the country. The whole tournament is going to be of 8 teams while the format of the tournament remains same as off IPL.
This league has very important significance in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu cricket had seen some gloom days in the recent past. So having a league of this enigma will certainly give young talents from Tamil Nadu to rise up and show their talent on a wider perspective. Also these new players will be playing under the guidance of some of the established players in Indian cricket like Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay while some teams have coaches like Michael Bevan, Lance Klusener, Brett Lee. ALSO READ: Lance Klusener roped in as coach for Kovai Kings in Tamil Nadu Premier League
Given the type of mentors the franchise have elected, this is going to be a fundamental league in helping local talent to come up and showcase their talent on a big and wider perspective. With the tournament already started and the first match being a cracker, the same can be expected by the whole tournament. Established players will look to get their place back in the national squad while the newbie will look to come into the selectors eye to assure them of bright Indian future.
In the first match was held between Chepauk Super Gillies vs TUTI Patriots saw perfect opening for such high octane drama. TUTI Patriots winning the toss elected to bat first as captain Dinesh Karthik looked pretty confident about his batsmen’s credentials. Patriots got off to a great style as they won their first match in a comprehensive way.
Karthik played a captains innings as he scored 67* of 49 balls to help his side post a total of 164 for 5 in 20 overs. In the bid to chase down the target of 165, Chepauk Super Gillies never got going. They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and lacked intent.
They struggled throughout the innings and eventually were knocked over for 119 offering TUTI Patriots a big win. Akash Surma and Aushik Srinivas claimed 3 each while Lakshmipathy Balaji picked two while the rest of the bowlers got one each.
After such a thumping start to the tournament, VB Thiruvallur Veerans will be facing Karaikudi Kaalai in the second match at NPR College Ground, Dindigul. S Badrinath will be captaining Karaikudi Kaalai whereas on the other hand Baba Aparajith is the skipper for VB Thiruvallur Veerans. S Badrinath has the experience of playing Chennai Super Kings. So his experience will be very crucial for his team as the rest of the squad consists of new and young players.
Baba Aparajith who is the captain for Karaikudi Kaalai was selected for Chennai Super Kings squad in IPL but he never played any match for them. Aparajith has scored runs playing for South Zone in Duleep Trophy.
With the tournament all poised after all hyped promotions, this second match of the tournament also looks like will be a sell-out for crowd and certainly we are in for a cracker of a game!
(Rohan A. Sawant is a reporter for CricketCountry. He loves Football, Cricket and is a die-hard Arsenal fan. He is an avid writer and has some knowledge about cricket and so he is trying his best to pour with his Laptop as he find writing with pen and paper very clumsy. You can follow him on Twitter @iswandering)
