The match between Lyca Kovai Kings and Madurai Super Giants saw the president of the TNCA N. Srinivasan make his first appearance at a match in this venue. During the first innings, the former ICC chairman spoke to former Australian cricketer Dean Jones.
Speaking about the tournament, Srinivasan did not hold back his words saying, “Many people doubted the effectiveness and success of this. But having seen the matches in Chennai, Natham and here, this is here to stay and will be much bigger as we go along.”
Elaborating on the idea behind the tournament, he said, “There is lot of talent in rural TN which is not coming to surface at all. So we thought this will give an opportunity for tap talent. We are seeing new people and the quality of the matches are good. So whatever we wanted to do is being achieved.”
Srinivasan also added, the tournament will also help young promising cricketers to continue playing and not abandon the game in favour of focusing on studies. “Here in schools, with the emphasis on career, lot of importance is given to studies and education. With the IT revolution opening doors, they have one eye on studies. They are good at school level but once they are 17 or 18 they focus on professional studies. This will give them the impetus.”
Speaking about the expansion plans, he said from next year the tournament will have two new venues with district associations showing interest in hosting the league. “We have been endeavoring to get as many turf wickets as possible in the districts. This will increase the enthusiasm. Many districts are already wanting to be included next year and have offered to provide us the grounds.”
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