TNPL 2025 kicks off tomorrow, Shahrukh's Kings to take on Ashwin's Dragons in opener

United News of India

3 days ago

Coimbatore, June 4 (UNI) IPL GT star Shahrukh Khan-led Lyca Kovai Kings will lock horns
with R Ashwin's Dindigul Dragons in a rematch of last year's final to kickstart the 9th edition
of the Shriram Capital-Tamil Nadu Premier League at the Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science Cricket Ground here on Thursday night.
Dindigul denied Kovai Kings a hat-trick of crowns (joint-winners in 2022), as Ashwin turned in a splendid all-round performance in a low-scoring contest to help his side secure their maiden title.
Meanwhile, Chepauk Super Gillies, the most-decorated franchise with four trophies, will begin
their campaign on Friday against iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans in what is India's longest-running regional T20 league.
Adding excitement to Season 9 are the new-look squads following February's mega
auction after the eight franchises were allowed to retain a maximum of five players
each.
Among the prominent movements were pacer M Mohammed to SKM Salem Spartans,
left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh to Chepauk Super Gillies and toporder batters U Mukilesh
and J Suresh Kumar to Trichy Grand Cholas, while all-rounder Vijay Shankar returns to
Chepauk Super Gillies.
With Sai Sudharsan picked for India's Test tour of England, exciting teenager Andre
Siddharth will be expected to play a key role for his new franchise, Kovai Kings.
At a press conference on Wednesay, Kovai Kings' head coach J Hariesh said his side
will also miss the services of all-rounder RS Ambrish, away with the India U-19 team,
who 'would have taken the No 6 slot.'
Among other franchise news, all-rounder Washington Sundar, also picked for the
England Test tour, will not be available for Trichy Grand Cholas, while former UAE
wrist-spinner Karthik Meiyappan, who has now moved to his birth place Chennai,
will don Siechem Madurai Panthers colours.
All eight franchises appear balanced, given the reshaping of squads at the mega
auction, and this promises exciting and close matches this season.
'Teams can look strong on paper, but what happens during the match decides
everything,' Dindigul spinner Varun Chakravarthy said.
It took Dindigul eight seasons to secure their maiden crown after runner-up finishes in
2018 and 2019, and the side is looking to extend their supremacy.
'We have a trophy to defend and make a statement this year by winning it two times in
a row,' India spinner Chakravarthy added.
Kovai Kings' skipper Shahrukh felt a good season boils down to the 'process that we
put in place and the brand of cricket that we play.'
'It's a fresh start, really, because barring the five players that were retained, most of the
others are new to the side,' Shahrukh, last edition's Player of the Tournament, said at
the press meet.
After a week in Coimbatore (until June 11), the action will shift to the Salem Cricket
Foundation ground (June 13-19), followed by CSK ground in Tirunelveli (June 21-26)
before moving to the NPR College ground in Dindigul for the business end, with the
final on July 6.
The 32-match season will also feature six double headers, with the afternoon game
commencing at 3.15 p.m.
N Jagadeesan (Chepauk Super Gillies, 2260) and Sai Kishore (IDream Tiruppur
Tamizhans, 78 wickets) are the tournament's leading run-getter and wicket-taker
respectively, while Shivam Singh (Dindigul Dragons, 364) and M Poiyamozhi (SKM
Salem Spartans,16 wickets) topped the charts last year.
Matches will be broadcast live on Star Sports 1 Tamil and Star Sports 2 and live-
streamed on FanCode.
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