Gillies, Patriots to clash in Tamil Nadu’s big league today

While a path-breaking league, hailed as a stepping-stone for budding state cricketers, will be off the blocks, cheers of enthusiastic fans will reverberate across the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium as competitive club cricket returns to Chepauk after long. 

The eight-team extravaganza over a period of three-weeks will also be a shot in the arm for the districts as it would help in increasing the quality of cricket played in the hinterland of Tamil Nadu. With colourful team jerseys, white balls and day-night cricket matches, the players from the districts would be keen on making every opportunity count.

There can be no better example of a small-town player making it big in the game than Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The skipper, who was in the city to launch the trophy last week, said that TNPL’s aim would be to identify new talent from districts. 

“Tournaments like these will promote cricket. It will take the game to a lot of cities that are not used to watching big games. There are a lot of day-night games planned — something that will encourage youngsters to come up and say, ‘I want to play there.’ All these small motivations really help players become big in life. Once you are a part of a team that is in the league, you will want to represent your state and then the country,” Dhoni had said during the launch. 

The cricketers will get a chance to share the dressing room with seasoned players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik. The league is clearly an offer young cricketers will relish.