BANGALORE: The Karnataka Premier League T20 cricket tournament will make a return in 2014 with a celebrity team added to the list of participants.
An all-film star team will be in action along with the rest as the event kicks off in various parts of the state.
"The KPL is a vision of our late President Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar. The first two editions were held in 2009 and 2010. As a tribute to him, it will be named in his memory," Brijesh Patel, secretary, KSCA said.
"The tournament will be held as before. The highlight of KPL 2014, however, would be the participation of a celebrity cricket team led by well-known Kannada film star Sudeep. This team will also feature top film stars of the country like Ram Charan Teja, Shabeer Ahluwalia, Tarun Chandra, Arun Benny among others. We wanted to add some glamour to the league. They have played really good competitive cricket in the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL). It will be an all-India team," said Brijesh and added, "The 16-day tournament will see each team playing against the other once with the top four teams qualifying for the semis. The total number of teams will be announced later after the bidding process for the franchises is complete. It is likely to be an eight-team league. The players will be picked via auction."
The tournament is likely to get off on August 23 with the final in Mysore on September 7. Karnataka's Vinay Kumar, Robin Uthappa, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, S Arvind, Karun Nair, K L Rahul will also be playing.
KSCA is yet to get a clearance from BCCI for teams to sign players from other states. BCCI had denied permission to players from other states to play in the league. Bangalore Metro, Greater Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Hubli-Dharwad, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Raichur and Shimoga are the teams for the new franchises. The T20 franchise-based league will kick off from Hubli, move to Bangalore and then end in Mysore. The day and night matches will be held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Rajnagar Ground at Hubli and Gangotri Glades Cricket Ground at Mysore.
"After the grand success of the last two seasons of KPL, we are glad to present the third season of this sporting extravaganza. The tournament is an initiative by the KSCA to celebrate the sport of cricket in Karnataka. We thank the players, franchises, sponsors, media and all connected in supporting our attempt to provide an ideal platform for aspiring cricketers in the state. KPL 2014 is also our attempt to pay tribute to the late scion of the Mysore royal family Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar," Brijesh Patel said.
"Karnataka has a rich cricketing history and the state team has won the Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year. The state has been at the forefront in promoting cricket. KPL has helped discover new talent and KSCA is among the first to promote inclusive cricket by extending the IPL format to the regional level. We expect the third edition of KPL to be a grand success like in the past," he added.
Bangalore Provident (Rural) won it in 2009 and Mangalore United in 2010.