CHENNAI: India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been retained by Dindigul Dragons, will be attending the player draft for the third edition of Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), which will be held here on Thursday. A total of 772 players have registered with Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) for the draft. TNPL 3 will start on July 11, and will witness matches at various venues in the state. Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay, Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar are the four players whom most teams will want in their ranks, depending on their availability courtesy their India and India A commitments. Former India batsman Subramaniam Badrinath, who had captained Karaikudi Kaalai last year, will be seen as Karaikudi’s coach this season.
“I will no longer be seen as a player. I have decided to become Karaikudi’s coach this year. This is the first time I will be coaching, and it is going to be a very challenging job,” he said. “The draft too will be challenging too as it will depend upon the pecking order in terms of choosing players. I wish we get a team with a good mixture of experience and youth. PC Prakash is our assistant coach.” Dindigul had retained Ashwin, Narayan Jagadeesan and Vivek Raj, and they are looking to stock up on utility players till season. “Since we have retained capped players, we will be getting only uncapped players in the first round. We have to see who is available and pick the best man available at that point of time,” said a source in the team’s management.
This edition will see a lot of changes in the support staff of various teams, apart from the change of ownership of one franchise. Madurai Super Giants has been renamed as Siechem Madurai Panthers. It was reported that Bharath Reddy will be the side’s coach, but the former India wicketkeeper told Express that he had stepped down. “I had stepped down on Monday due to differences with the management. I felt that I did not have the freedom for going about with my job. So I had to step down.” Monty Desai, JR Madanagopal and DJ Gokulakrishnan, all of whom were part of Albert Tuti Patriots’ support staff last season, have moved to Lyca Kovai Kings.
“It is not easy to form a new team. We will look for talented players who suit the shortest format. As far as the big names are concerned, it all depends upon the pecking order and their availability. But we are confident of forming a competitive team,” said Kovai batting coach Madanagopal, who had helmed Tuti Patriots during their title run in the inaugural season. Ajay Kudua will coach Ruby Trichy Warriors, with former Tamil Nadu batsman C Hemanth Kumar being appointed as their batting coach.
ashok.v@newindianexpress.com