Tamil Nadu Premier League
Indian T20 cricket league
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| |
| Countries | India |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Tamil Nadu Cricket Association |
| Format | Twenty20 |
| First edition | 2016 |
| Latest edition | 2026 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin format (groups and playoffs) |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Current champion | Kovai Kings (3rd title) |
| Most successful | Chepauk Super Gillies (4 titles) |
| Most runs | N Jagadeesan (2763)[1] |
| Most wickets | R Sai Kishore (96)[2] |
| TV | Sony Sports Network YouTube (online streaming) |
| Website | tnpl |
 2026 Tamil Nadu Premier League | |
The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) is an annual men's Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is organised by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and contested by eight city-based franchise teams from the state. The inaugural season was held in 2016.
Kovai Kings are the defending champions, having won their third title in 2026. Chepauk Super Gillies are the most successful team with four titles.[a]
History
Background
In July 2015, the R. M. Lodha committee appointed by the Supreme Court, suspended the Chennai-based Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings for a period of two years due to the association of their owners with illegal betting.[3] As a result of the ban, there was no major competitive T20 cricket played in the state. In April 2016, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) introduced plans for a Twenty20 cricket league to be played in May 2016.[4] The inaugural edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) was aimed at filling the void left by the absence of major T20 matches in the state, and at providing a platform for local players.[4][5]
Franchise rights
The TNPL was proposed as an eight-team event contested by city-based franchise teams.[4] On 1 May 2016, the TNCA invited bidders for the franchise rights, with the base price set at ₹12.5 million (US$190,000).[6] Seventeen bidders participated in the process, and the eight franchises were later unveiled by the TNCA.[7] The franchise rights for the eight teams were sold for ₹335.1 million (US$4.99 million), with the highest bid at ₹52.1 million (US$780,000).[5][7][8]
| Owner | City | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Thoothukudi Sports & Entertainments | Thoothukudi | ₹52.1 million (US$780,000) |
| Metronation Chennai Television | Chennai | ₹51.3 million (US$760,000) |
| Lyca Productions | Coimbatore | ₹50.1 million (US$750,000) |
| Kothari (Madras) International | Madurai | ₹40.01 million (US$600,000) |
| Ruby Builders | Kanchipuram | ₹36.9 million (US$550,000) |
| VB Cricket Academy | Thiruvallur | ₹34.8 million (US$520,000) |
| Take Solutions | Dindigul | ₹34.2 million (US$510,000) |
| Chettinad Apparels | Karaikkudi | ₹33.0 million (US$490,000) |
Inauguration
In June 2016, the TNCA announced that the first season would consist of 27 matches to be played in August and September across Chennai, Tirunelveli, and Dindigul, with the player draft to be held in July.[5][7] The player draft was held in Chennai on 30 July.[9] On 16 August, the first edition of the league was inaugurated by MS Dhoni, and was played from 24 August to 18 September.[10] The inaugural edition featured both international and domestic cricketers registered with the TNCA.[5][7]
Organisation
Tournament format
During the inaugural season, the eight teams played every other team once and the top four qualified for the semifinals.[7][11] Since the second season, a new system has been used in which the eight teams play against each other in the league phase in a round-robin format and the top four qualify for the playoffs. The playoffs consist of three matches – one eliminator and two qualifiers, followed by the final. The top two teams from the league phase play against each other in the first qualifier match with the winner progressing to the final. The loser plays against the winner of an eliminator match between the third and fourth-place teams from the league phase in the second qualifier. The winner of this match competes with the winner of the first qualifier for the title.[12][13]
Player acquisition and salaries
For the first season, each team was allowed a minimum of 17 players and a maximum of 19. There were 888 players classified into three price bands with the highest price fixed at ₹0.5 million (equivalent to ₹720,000 or US$7,500 in 2023).[9] The team with the highest bid during the franchise auction had the first right, followed in order by the value of the bids, repeated until a franchise exhausted its purse or refused to choose a player.[9] For the subsequent seasons, the franchises retained the players and a short player draft was conducted to fill the vacant positions.[14] For the 2018 season, the teams were allowed to retain three players and a new player draft was held with similar rules as the first draft.[15] For the 2019 season, the teams were allowed to retain players from the previous season and permitted a maximum of 22 players with at least two players from the districts represented by the franchise.[16]
Ahead of the 2020 season, the franchises were allowed to retain three players from the previous season and a new player draft was held. The salary caps for the categories were also raised, with the maximum cap set at ₹0.6 million (equivalent to ₹710,000 or US$7,300 in 2023).[17][18][19]
| Category | Description | Salary (2016) | Salary (2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Represented the Indian national cricket team | ₹0.3 million (equivalent to ₹430,000 or US$4,500 in 2023) – ₹0.5 million (equivalent to ₹720,000 or US$7,500 in 2023) | ₹0.6 million (equivalent to ₹710,000 or US$7,300 in 2023) |
| B1–B2 | Played at least 20 TNPL matches or appeared in domestic first class matches (BCCI) | ₹0.15 million (equivalent to ₹220,000 or US$2,200 in 2023) – ₹0.25 million (equivalent to ₹360,000 or US$3,700 in 2023) | ₹0.2 million (equivalent to ₹240,000 or US$2,400 in 2023) – ₹0.3 million (equivalent to ₹350,000 or US$3,700 in 2023) |
| C | Others | ₹0.5 million (equivalent to ₹720,000 or US$7,500 in 2023) – ₹1 million (equivalent to ₹1.4 million or US$15,000 in 2023) | |
Until 2020, the Board of Control for Cricket in India prevented TNCA from including outstation players in the league.[20][21] For the fifth season, a maximum of two outstation players who were not part of the Indian Premier League were permitted per team, and a separate draft for the outstation players was held after the conclusion of the 2020 IPL season.[22]
Ahead of the 2023 season, the TNCA introduced a new player auction to replace the draft system. Each team was given a purse of ₹7 million (US$80,000).[23] For the 2024 season, teams were permitted a maximum of 20 players and allowed to retain a set of players before the rest went into the auction.[24] Sixty-one players were sold in the auction, with the maximum bid at ₹2.2 million (US$30,000).[25]
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| A | Represented the Indian national cricket team |
| B | Played at least 20 TNPL matches or appeared in domestic first class matches (BCCI) |
| C | Played at least 30 TNPL matches (not in categories A and B) |
| D | Others |
Finances
The franchises were sold to the highest bidders for a period of ten years and the TNCA earned ₹335.1 million (US$0 million) in franchise rights.[5][8] TNPL followed a similar business model to that of the IPL.[26] For the first five years, eighty percent of the central rights (broadcast fees and sponsorship) after excluding match staging fees, were shared amongst the eight franchises and the rest went to the TNCA. Of this, sixty-five percent was divided equally between the franchises and the rest was given to the franchises as per their standing in the league.[8] However, the gate collections from the matches were not shared by the TNCA with the franchises.[26] To attract sponsors, owners were advised to name their teams after the districts in the state.[6]
In May 2019, five of the franchises wrote to the TNCA regarding the financial difficulties faced by the franchises. The franchises expressed concerns regarding the lack of participation of outstation players, quality of umpiring, unavailability of players who represent India and the hosting of matches in smaller venues, which affected the viewership for the league and the television rating points. The franchises reportedly suffered losses of up to ₹250 million (US$0 million) and suggested several changes including the inclusion of more outstation players and changes to the revenue-sharing model of the league.[26][27][28] In response, the TNCA stated that it already shares 80 per cent of the telecast and sponsorship fees with the franchises and gained only a net of ₹50 million (US$710,000) from the TNPL after meeting all expenses. However, some of the franchises were unsatisfied with the response and demanded an audit of the TNPL accounts.[29]
Sponsorship
From 2016 to 2019, India Cements owned the title rights of the league.[30][31] A tender for new title rights sponsor was released in March 2020 and was awarded to the Shriram Group.[32][33]
| Sponsor | Period |
|---|---|
| India Cements | 2016–2019 |
| Shriram Group | 2021–2023 |
Prize money
The winners of TNPL are awarded ₹10 million (US$100,000) with the runners-up receiving ₹6 million (US$62,000). The two semi-finalists are awarded ₹4 million (US$42,000) each with the remaining four teams receiving ₹2.5 million (US$26,000) each.[5]
Broadcasting
In 2016, Star India acquired the media rights for ₹71 million (US$0 million) for a minimum period of five years.[5][8][34] The matches are telecast with commentaries in English and Tamil. Star also streamed the matches over its OTT platform, Disney+ Hotstar till 2021.[35] For the 2022 season, the digital rights were sold to Viacom18 and FanCode became the streaming partner since the 2023 season.[36]
| Period | Television | Digital |
|---|---|---|
| 2016–2021 | Disney Star | |
| 2022 | Disney Star | Viacom18 |
| 2023–2025 | FanCode | |
| 2026 | Sony Sports Network | YouTube |
Teams
Current
Eight franchises are competing in the league. The franchises are named after a city they are representing in the state.[6][5] Each team can have a maximum of 20 players, including two outstation players.[24]
| Team[37] | City | Captain[38] | Coach | Owner[7][39] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chepauk Super Gillies | Chennai | Narayan Jagadeesan | Avinash A. | Metronation Chennai Television |
| Dindigul Dragons | Dindigul | Baba Indrajith | Ravichandran Ashwin | Take Solutions |
| Kovai Kings | Coimbatore | Shahrukh Khan | Thiru Kumaran | Anantha Karthikeyan[40] |
| Nellai Royal Kings | Tirunelveli | Sonu Yadav | Varun | Crown Forts |
| Salem Spartans | Salem | S Abishiek | Ramaswamy Prasanna | Selvakumar |
| Madurai Panthers | Madurai | Balachander Anirudh | Arun Karthik | Palani Guruswamy[41] |
| Trichy Grand Cholas | Tiruchirapalli | J Suresh Kumar | Tinu Yohannan | Drumstick Productions |
| Tiruppur Tamizhans | Tiruppur | Sai Kishore | Rx Muralidhar | iDream Cinemas and Properties |
Defunct
Ahead of the 2017 season, Kanchi Warriors moved its base to Tiruchirappalli and changed its name to Trichy Warriors.[42] Before the 2018 season, the Madurai franchise was sold to Seichem Technologies and was renamed as Madurai Panthers.[43] Thiruvallur Veerans was renamed as Kanchi Veerans ahead of the same season.[44] In 2019, the BCCI said that action was initiated against the owners of two of the franchises for match fixing.[45] In response, the TNCA asked the franchise Tuti Patriots to remove two of their co-owners.[46] Tuti Patriots became solely owned by Selvakumar, after two of the three owners moved out and the team was renamed as Salem Spartans. Ahead of the 2020 season, Karaikudi Kaalai was also renamed as Tiruppur Tamizhans, after moving to the city of Tiruppur.[47] Kanchi Veerans franchise was also sold to Crown Forts and was known as Nellai Royal Kings after shifting its base to Tirunelveli.[48] Ahead of the 2023 season, the Trichy Warriors franchise was bought by Drumstick productions and renamed to Ba11sy Trichy for a single season, before it was renamed again as Trichy Grand Cholas ahead of the 2024 season.[49]
| Team | City | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Kanchi Warriors | Kanchipuram | 2016 |
| Madurai Super Giants | Madurai | 2016-2017 |
| Thiruvallur Veerans | Tiruvallur | |
| Tuti Patriots | Thoothukudi | 2016–2019 |
| Karaikudi Kaalai | Karaikudi | |
| Kanchi Veerans | Kanchipuram | 2018-2019 |
| Trichy Warriors | Tiruchirappalli | 2017-2022 |
| Ba11sy Trichy | Tiruchirappalli | 2023 |
Timeline
Present teams Former teams
Venues
Three venues were used for the first the first four seasons. League matches were hosted at Indian Cement Company Ground in Tirunelveli and NPR College Ground at Dindigul with the playoffs held at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium at Chennai.[5][50] From the 2020 season, matches were held at two new venues: Salem Cricket Foundation Stadium at Salem and SNR College Cricket Ground at Coimbatore.[51][52][53]
| Stadium | City | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| M. A. Chidambaram Stadium | Chennai | 38,000[54] |
| Salem Cricket Foundation Stadium | Salem | 5,000 (expandable to 25,000)[55] |
| SNR College Cricket Ground | Coimbatore | Limited (expandable)[56] |
| NPR College Ground | Dindigul | 5,000[57] |
| Indian Cement Company Ground | Tirunelveli | 4,000[58] |
Seasons and results
Summary
| Season | Teams | Winner | Player of the series | Most runs | Most wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 8 | Tuti Patriots | Narayan Jagadeesan (DD) | Narayan Jagadeesan (DD) | Anthony Das (CSG) |
| 2017 | Chepauk Super Gillies | Washington Sundar (TP) | Washington Sundar (TP) | Sai Kishore (CSG) | |
| 2018 | Madurai Panthers | Arun Karthik (MP) | Arun Karthik (MP) | Abhishek Tanwar (MP) | |
| 2019 | Chepauk Super Gillies | Ganeshan Periyaswamy (CSG) | Narayan Jagadeesan (DD) | Ganeshan Periyaswamy (CSG) | |
| 2021 | Chepauk Super Gillies | Hari Nishaanth (DD) | Hari Nishaanth (DD) | Saravana Kumar (TW) | |
| 2022 | Chepauk Super Gillies and Kovai Kings | Sanjay Yadav (NRK) | Sanjay Yadav (NRK) | Abhishek Tanwar (KK) | |
| 2023 | Kovai Kings | Guruswamy Ajitesh (NRK) | Guruswamy Ajitesh (NRK) | Shahrukh Khan (KK) | |
| 2024 | Dindigul Dragons | Shahrukh Khan (KK) | Shivam Singh (DD) | M. Poiyamozhi (SS) | |
| 2025 | Tiruppur Tamizhans | Tushar Raheja (TT) | Tushar Raheja (TT) | Sonu Yadav (NRK) | |
| 2026 | Kovai Kings | Balasubramaniam Sachin (KK) | Balasubramaniam Sachin (KK) | Deeban Lingesh (KK) | |
Finals
Teams' performance
| Season | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022^ | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chepauk Super Gillies | RU | C | 8th | C | C | C | 5th | PO | PO | 6th |
| Dindigul Dragons | SF | 6th | RU | RU | PO | 6th | PO | C | RU | 7th |
| Tiruppur Tamizhans | 5th | PO | PO | 8th | 8th | 5th | 6th | PO | C | PO |
| Kovai Kings | SF | PO | PO | 5th | PO | C | C | RU | 6th | C |
| Madurai Panthers† / Madurai Super Giants | 8th | 8th | C | PO | 6th | PO | PO | 7th | 8th | RU |
| Thiruvallur Veerans† / Kanchi Veerans† / Nellai Royal Kings | 6th | 5th | 7th | PO | 5th | PO | RU | 5th | 7th | 5th |
| Kanchi Warriors† / Trichy Warriors† / Ba11sy Trichy† / Trichy Grand Cholas | 7th | 7th | 6th | 7th | RU | 7th | 8th | 6th | PO | PO |
| Tuti Patriots† / Salem Spartans | C | RU | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 7th | 8th | 5th | 8th |
† Team now defunct
^ Final was a no-result and trophy was 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 | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 240/4 | Madurai Panthers | Kovai Kings | 8 August 2026 |
| 240/2 | Chepauk Super Gillies | Madurai Panthers | 14 August 2026 |
| 239/6 | Dindigul Dragons | Salem Spartans | |
| 239/4 | Kovai Kings | Madurai Panthers | 8 August 2026 |
| 236/2 | Nellai Royal Kings | Trichy Warriors | 15 July 2022 |
Last updated:29 August 2026[59]
Most runs
| Runs | Batter | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| 2763 | Narayan Jagadeesan | 2016-2026 |
| 2447 | Baba Aparajith | 2016-2025 |
| 2315 | Arun Karthik | 2016-2025 |
| 1869 | Hari Nishaanth | 2016-2026 |
| 1836 | M Shahrukh Khan | 2016-2026 |
Last updated:29 August 2026[60]
Highest individual scores
| Runs | Batter | For | Against | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 123* | Sai Sudharsan | Kovai Kings | Tiruppur Tamizhans | 30 July 2024 |
| 121 | Murali Vijay | Trichy Warriors | Nellai Royal Kings | 15 July 2022 |
| 121 | NS Chaturved | Madurai Panthers | Kovai Kings | 8 August 2022 |
| 118* | Baba Aparajith | Kanchi Veerans | Karaikudi Kaalai | 25 August 2016 |
| 116 | Balasubramaniam Sachin | Kovai Kings | Salem Spartans | 28 June 2025 |
Last updated:29 August 2026[61]
Most wickets
| Wickets | Bowler | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| 97 | Sai Kishore | 2016-2026 |
| 95 | V. Athisayaraj Davidson | 2016-2026 |
| 92 | Abhishek Tanwar | 2016-2026 |
| 85 | Sonu Yadav | 2016-2026 |
| 82 | Rahil Shah | 2016-2026 |
Last updated:15 August 2026[62]
See also
Notes
- Chepauk Super Gillies shared the 2021 Tamil Nadu Premier League title with Kovai Kings after the final was washed out.
