Coca Cola, Star India, India Cements to sponsor Tamil Nadu's T20

Tamil Nadu's 20-over cricket tournament, Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), is set to start its first edition with the organiser, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), on Thursday unveiled the trophy and announced sponsors, including Coca Cola, India Cements, Equitas and others. Television major Star India will be pouring sponsor.

In an event organised in Chennai on Thursday, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni unveiled the TNPL Cup. The title sponsor for the event is India Cements, along with Krishna Mines, Equitas Holdings and Atharva, a part of Valammal Educational Institution. Coca Cola is the pouring sponsor while Star Vijay, part of Media house Star India is the broadcasting partner.

N Srinivasan, president of TNCA, said that the effort is to promote and showcase talent in the state. He added Chennai missed the league match for one year and may miss for one more year, but the 'yellow jersey', referring to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), will be back, for which India Cements was a franchisee. It may be noted that Chennai was not a venue for IPL matches for almost a year, after the CSK was suspended after a report from the Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to take decision on the alleged mach betting case, in which the then BCCI president Srinivasan's son in law was booked by the investigators.

The association also announced eight teams, owned by corporate groups who won the bid. The teams are owned by groups, including Take Solutions, a listed entity; Metronation Chennai Television, part of a major media group in the state; Lyca Productions; Kothari (Madras); Ruby Builders and Promoters; VB Academy and Chettinad Apparels.

The total amount at the end of the bidding process was Rs 33 crore for eight franchisee teams, apparently the highest amount raised by a state cricket body; 17 entities participated.

The franchisee fee will be paid to TNCA by the owners over a period of 10 years. For instance, Take Solutions will pay about Rs 3.4 crore every year for next 10 years, apart from the promotional activities. The company expects to spend about Rs 7-8 crore related to the event this year, said Srinivasan H R, vice-chairman and managing director of Take Solutions.

The 31 matches for the first year will be held in 20 days from August 24 to September 18, in three locations. The players were selected from a pool of around 900 players offered by TNCA. However, this year players outside of Tamil Nadu will not be participating in the tournament and it is expecting the BCCI would allow it to have players from other states next year, said a senior official from TNPL.

The players are selected for a contract of two years, said Sivanthi Adityan Balasubramanian, from Metronation Chennai Television, part of Daily Thanthi Group. The aim is to promote cricket and give more players from the State a space in the world of cricket, while brand building would be a benefit, he added.

Advertisement

While Karnataka has a state league, TNPL is mounted on a larger scale, N Srinivasan, president of TNCA, had said.

This year would see 27 matches; the eight teams would be pooled into two groups of four each. Each team would get to play a minimum of six matches.

The prize is fixed at Rs 1 crore for the winner, Rs 60 lakh for the runner-up, Rs 40 lakh for the losing semi-finalists and Rs 25 lakh for the remaining four teams, said Srinivasan. TNCA expects, he said, to get Rs 350 crore through TNPL over the next 10 years. This state league would enable TN players to show their talent and rub shoulders with national and international players. Beside promoting cricket at the district level in a big way, said Srinivasan.

The matches will be played in Chennai, Tirunelveli and Natham (near Dindigul).