TNPL Players Draft 2020: Mukund goes to Tamizhans, Spartans picks Vijay Shankar

Follow live updates from the players draft for the fifth edition of the TNPL to be held at the Crowne Plaza hotel on February 20 in Chennai.

File Photo: It is understood Tirunelveli will host the final with Dindigul and Coimbatore possibly hosting the playoff matches.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) player draft to be held at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Chennai.

SALEM SPARTANS: B PRAANESH, VIJAY SHANKAR, G PERIYASAMY, M ASHWIN, K H GOPINATH, DARYL S FERRARIO, LOKESH RAJ T D, AKKIL SRINAATH, M SUGANESH, SUSHIL U, SIVA KUMAR M K, RAJKUMAR T, ABISHIEK S, BOOPALAN S, PRASHANTH PRABHU, M VIJAY KUMAR, SHUBHAM MEHTA

CHEPAUK SUPER GILLIES : RAHUL D, N JAGADEESAN, HARISH KUMAR S, R SATHISH, M SIDDHARTH, JAGANATH SINIVAS R S, SUJAY S, PRASHID AKASH H, B ARUN, RAM ARVINDH R, RAHUL B, ARUN KUMAR V, SAI PRAKASH V, VIJAYAKUMAR S, SANTHANA SEKAR, AJITH KUMAR R, VIKKRAM JANGID

LYCA KOVAI KINGS: SHIJIT CHANDRAN . P, ASHWIN VENKATRAMAN, ABHISHEK TANWAR, K VIGNESH, GANGA SRIDHAR RAJU, KAVIN R, MUKILESH U, RAJESH M P, SURESH KUMARJ, MANISH G R, SELVAKUMARAN N, ATHEEQ UR RAHMAN M A, SAI SUDHARSAN B, GUWJITH SUBASH J, ARAVINDH G, NISHAANTH KUMAR

SIECHEM MADURAI PANTHERS : MITHUN R, SHAJAHAN M, J KOUSIK, CHATURVED N S, R ROHIT, ANIRUDH SITARAM B, AUSHIK SRINIVAS R, AADITYA V, GOWTHAM V, PRAVEEN KUMAR P, R SILAMBARASAN, HEMCHARAN P, D T CHANDRASEKAR, DEEBAN LINGESH, NIRMAL KUMAR P S, S GANESH

RUBY TRICHY WARRIORS: SARAVANA KUMAR P, NIDHISH S RAJAGOPAL, ANIRUDA S, ANTONY DAAS, RAHIL S SHAH, ADITHYA GANESH, SUMANT JAIN, AKASH SUMRA, POIYAMOZHI M, MUHAMMED ADNAN KHAN, GANESH R, AMITH SATHVIK V P, YAZH ARUN MOZHI, SANTOSH SHIV, HEMANTH KUMAR G, MUKUNTH K, KARTHIK SHANMUGAM

VB KANCHI VEERANS: TRILOK NAG, ARJUN MURTHY, INDRAJITH B, ATHYASAYARAJ DAVID, PRADOSH RANJAN PAUL, M ABHINAV, SHARUN KUMAR S, SURYAP PRAKASH, JITENDRA KUMAR C H, AJITH KUMAR T, SENTHIL NATHAN S, ASHWATH MUKUNTHAN, VIDYUTH P, JAYACHANDRAN R, RAJINIKANTH V

DINDIGUL DRAGONS: VISHAL VAIDHYA, MANI BHARATHY, HARI NISHAANTH C, YO MAHESH V, SUTHESH R, MOKIT HARIHARAN R S, L VIGNESH, S LOKESHWAR, M S SANJAY, ADITHYA ARUN, ARUN S, SWAMINATHAN S, LAKSHMAN V, ASHWIN C, SIVA MURUGAN A R, ADVAITH SHARMA, SRINIVASAN R

IDREAM TIRUPPUR TAMIZHANS: S DINESH, M MOHAMMED, ASWIN CRIST A, ABHINAV MUKUND, MOHAN PRASATH S, FRANCIS ROKINS P, S ARAVIND, GOWTHAM THAMARAI KANNAN, KARUPPUSAMY, MANIGANDAN S, SIDDHARTH S, SHRIRAM C, TUSHAR RAHEJA, MOHIT PANGHAL, SIDDARTH AHHUJA, ROOBANRAJ M, ABHINAV VISHNU

Teams have been allowed to retain three players each and can have a maximum of 22 while the minimum count is 16.

Categories: Category A (Players with international experience; Rs 6 lakh); Category B1-B2 (First class cricketers and those who have played 20 TNPL games; Rs 2-3 lakh); Category C (Others; Rs 50,000-1 lakh).

The draft features 633 players spread across four categories (A, B1, B2 and C) on the basis of their experience at the international, national and TNPL level.

Only two players are in Category A — Vijay Shankar and former Lyca Kovai Kings captain Abhinav Mukund. B1 category comprises 47 players while B2 has 11 who have played at least 20 TNPL games.

The rest are all in C.

India all-rounder Vijay Shankar headlines the Tamil Nadu T20 Premier League Season-5 mega-draft to be held here on Thursday.

The 29-year-old turned out for defending champion Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG) last year.

The fifth season will be held from June 10 to July 12.

Final at Tirunelveli?

It is understood Tirunelveli will host the final with Dindigul and Coimbatore possibly hosting the playoff matches.

Name change

Of the eight teams, two teams have changed their names and bases for this year. Tuti Patriots, which won the inaugural edition in 2016 will henceforth be called Salem Spartans, while I Dream Karaikudi Kaalai has requested permission to change its name as Tirupur Tamizhans.

This year the plan is to conduct TNPL matches from Wednesday to Sunday at a particular venue with the weekends playing host to double-headers before the bandwagon moves to another venue.

The eight  TNPL  (Tamil Nadu Premier League) franchises had earlier come up with their retention lists for the upcoming edition. Here's the list of players retained:

Retained players:

Chepauk Super Gillies: Kaushik Gandhi, R. Alexandar, U. Sasidev; Head coach: Hemang Badani.

Dindigul Dragons: R. Ashwin, M. Silambarasan, R. Vivek; Head coach: S Badrinath.

Siechem Madurai Panthers: K.B. Arun Kaarthick, Varun Chakravarthy, Kiran Akash; Head coach: TBC.

VB Kanchi Veerans: B. Aparajith, Sanjay Yadav, N.S. Harish; Head coach: M. Shanmugham.

Lyca Kovai Kings: M. Sharukh Khan, T. Natarajan, S. Ajith Ram; Head coach: Sriram Somayaaula.

Salem Spartans: Washington Sundar, Akshay Srinivasan, M. Ganesh Moorthi; Head coach: S Suresh.

Ruby Trichy Warriors: M. Vijay, R. Sai Kishore, Sonu Yadav; Head coach: Ajay Kudua

iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans: Dinesh Karthik, R. Rajkumar, Maan K Bafna; Head coach: R. Prasanna.