TNPL 2019: Kumaran, Ashik steal spotlight at player draft

Tuti Patriots, Chepauk Super Gillies, Siechem Madurai Panthers and Ruby Trichy Warriors maximised their squad strength while VB Kanchi Warriors stopped at 21. Lyca Kovai Kings and last year's finalist Dindigul Dragons were content with 19 members.

Dindigul Dragons was content with a 19-member squad for TNPL 2019.

Pacer Tamil Kumaran and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammed Ashik N were the top draws at the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) players' draft held at Hotel Crowne Plaza in Chennai on Thursday.

Kumaran, 35, a Tamil Nadu regular in Ranji Trophy, was the first pick of the day as he was grabbed by former champion Tuti Patriots. In the second round, Lyca Kovai Kings put its might behind 21-year-old Ashik. The Coimbatore lad had created a flutter recently by smashing a hundred against Madras Cricket Club in a Twenty20 match.

“I was looking forward to this year's TNPL draft. I am so grateful that I made it as this could be a chance for me to gain experience and grow as a player,” a jubilant Ashik said.

“Ashik's addition will be a big boost for us,” head coach of Lyca Kovai Kings and former Tamil Nadu captain, R Prasanna, said.

Tuti Patriots all-rounder Subramania Siva feels the player draft went off well for his team. “We've concentrated on all-rounders in this player draft which I thought was a successful move. These players have performed well in the lower divisions and it's time for them to be promoted and show some of that talent in the bigger stage,” he said.

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All-rounder A Karippuswamy, bought by iDream Karaikudi Kaalai, was another interesting pick of the day. All-rounder Yo Mahesh believes his side can pull off some surprises this season with such tactical picks. “Karippuswamy was the pick of the day for us. He will surprise a few teams with his talent,”  the Tamil Nadu player said.

Everything went according to plan for Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG) too. “We lacked in the bowling department last season and hence we brought in three seamers which will add good strength to our side,” said Hemang Badani, former Indian batsman and present head coach of the team.

Ruby Trichy Warriors maximised its squad strength as it included 22 players in the side.

 

CSG owner Sivanthi Adityan believes his team will be a force to reckon with this season. “We ended up picking all the bowlers we had on our list. Jeba Selvin is an exciting talent to watch out this season. He has a lot of potential,” he said.

During the draft picks on Thursday, Tuti Patriots, Chepauk Super Gillies, Siechem Madurai Panthers and Ruby Trichy Warriors maximised their squad strength (22 players each) while VB Kanchi Warriors stopped at 21. Lyca Kovai Kings and last year's finalist Dindigul Dragons were content with 19 members.

Former Tamil Nadu off-spinner and coach of Dindigul Dragons M Venkatramana insists the side is content with a 19-member squad. “19 in itself is a bigger number, we, in fact, were thinking of limiting it to 17. Our plan was to strengthen our bench and we got what we expected in the draft today,” he said.

Overall, 42 players were picked during the day from a pool of 878 players. Tuti Patriots, entered the draft today with the biggest shopping list of nine players and filled all its slots.

“The franchises made smart moves today to make their selections and each one of them was quite content with the composition of their respective squads. It also sets the tone for an exciting season ahead,” RT Palani, joint secretary, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association said.

FINAL SQUADS   Tuti Patriots Players picked in draft (9): Tamil Kumaran, M Kamalesh, M Sathya Raj, B Senthil Nathan, SP Nathan, Akash Sivan, R Karthikeyan, Rahul Raj, Wilkinson Victor. Retained players (13): Washington Sundar MS, Athisayaraj Davidson V, Akshay V Srinivasan, Ashith Rajiv Sanganakal, Dinesh S, Abishiek S, Vekatesh A, Nidhish S Rajagopal, Boopalan S, Shubham Mehta S, Ganesh Moorthi M, Anand Subramanian, Vasanth Sarvanan S, Subramania V. Squad strength: 22   Chepauk Super Gillies Players picked in draft (5): G Periyaswamy, D Rahul, R Thavith Kumar, Y Jeba Selvin, V Santhanasekar. Retained players (17): Vijay Shankar, Gopinath KH, Ashwin M, Harish Kumar S, Ganga Sridhar Raju V, Sunny Kumar Singh Y, Samruddh Bhat, Arun Kumar V, Rahul B, Siddharth M, Arun B, Aarif A, Siva Kumar MK, Alexandar R, Sasidev U, Karthik S, Kaushik Gandhi M. Squad strength: 19   Lyca Kovai Kings Players picked in draft (3): Malolan Rangarajan, Mohammed Ashik N, RS Jaganath Srinivas Retained players (16): Antony Dhas W, Natarajan T, Abhinav Mukund, Vignesh K, Shahrukh Khan M, Akkil Srinaath, Suresh Kumar J, Suresh Babu M, Rajesh MP, Ashwin Venkatraman, Raja M, Muhammad Adnan Khan, Manigandan S, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Ajith Ram S, Anirudh Sita Ram B. Squad strength: 19   Siechem Madurai Panthers Players picked in draft (7): Akash Sumra, Mithun R, SV Muruganantham, Sudhan Sanjeevi Kandepan, N Selva Kumaran, Sarath Raj A, Veeramani T Retained players(15): Varun CV, Abhishek Tanwar, Rahil S Shah, Thalaivan Sargunam X, Kousik J, Nilesh Subramanian R, Rohit D, Tushar Raheja, Kiran Akash L, Lokesh Raj TD, Sabin Somatha Karnavar, Promoth MS, Arun Karthick KB, Shijit Chandran P, Karthikeyan R. Squad strength: 22   Ruby Trichy Warriors Players picked in draft (7): Aditya Ganesh, R Sathyanarayan, Aditya Barooah, K Mukunth, Neyan Shyam Kangayan, Rathnam AVR, Rooban Raj M Retained players(15): Sanjay MS, Sonu Yadav R, Vijay M, Ganapati Chandrasekar, Suresh Kumar S, Aravind S, Vignesh L, Chandrasekar DT, Mani Bharathy K, Saravana Kumar P, Thillak RS, Indrajith B, Bharat Shankar K, Vignesh K, Sai Kishore R. Squad strength: 22   VB Kanchi Veerans Players picked in draft (4): NS Harish, R Suthesh, Gowtham Thamarai Kannan, P Sugendhran. Retained players(16): Lokeshwar S, Vishal Vaidhya K, Aushik Srinivas R, Mukilesh U, Arun S, Deeban Lingesh K, Siddharth S, Francis Rokins P, Divakar R, Mohit Hariharan RS, Vishal U, Shriram C, Aparajith B, Silambarasan R, Sanjay Yadav R, Satish R. Squad strength: 20   Dindigul Dragons Players picked (5): Karthik Saran M, Yazh Arun Mozhi, S Sujay, B Praanesh, M Anbu Retained players (14): Chaturved NS, Hari Nishaanth C, Mohammed M, Rohit R, Adithya Arun, Abhinav M, Silambarasan M, Trilok Nag H, Kaushik J, Varun M Totadri, Jagadeesan N, Vivek R, Ashwin R, Sumant Jain. Squad strength: 19   iDream Karaikudi Kalai Players picked in draft (5): A Karippuswamy, Sunil Sam, RD Ashwin Kumar, Abhinav Vishnu, Ashwin Balaji Retained players(17): Dinesh Karthik K, Aniruda S, Yo Mahesh V, Kavin R, Surya Prakash L, Lakshman V, Aaditya V, Kishan Kumar S, Maan K Bafna, Ashwath Mukunthan, Swaminathan S, Ajith Kumar T, Ganesh S, Srinivasan R, Rajkumar R, Mohan Prasath S, Shajahan M. Squad Strength: 22