CHENNAI: The sixth Tamil Nadu Premier League — which commences with defending champions Chepauk Super Gillies facing Nellai Royal Kings in the opener at Tirunelveli on Thursday — could be short of international experience. While Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar —(both part of Salem Spartans) will miss the entire duration of the tournament, other star players such as R Ashwin (Dindigul Dragons) and Dinesh Karthik (iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans) may play a part towards the latter half after their national commitments.
Vijay Shankar underwent a surgery on his right shoulder in Mumbai earlier this month and will take another 2-3 months to regain full fitness. Allrounder Washington Sundar, currently recuperating from a hand injury at the NCA in Bengaluru, has signed up with Lancashire for three County games and the 50-overs Royal London Cup.
However, his trip to England is subject to fitness and visa clearance. R Prasanna, head coach of Salem Spartans, rued the absence of the two allrounders in the line-up. “Both Washington and Vijay are experienced players who have the ability to turn matches on their head. We will definitely miss them, but it also gives opportunities for other youngsters in the side to step up and be counted,” Prasanna said.
The tournament will see the return of Murali Vijay to competitive cricket after a gap of almost two years. Vijay will don the Ruby Trichy Warriors’ jersey. Leg-spinner C Varun, part of the Siechem Madurai Panthers, will be another prominent name who will be looking to redeem himself after a below-par IPL season. In the 11 matches Varun played for Kolkata Knight Riders, he managed just 6 wickets at an average of 55.33.
TNPL teams up with FanCraze: TNPL, on Wednesday, announced that it has entered into a partnership with FanCraze to issue digital collectibles and build Web 3.0 experiences. This association with FanCraze makes TNPL the first Indian cricket league to foray into digital collectibles and NFTs.
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