What do you do when you are given a cold shoulder by the Board of Control for Cricket in India? You go ahead and start your own league and that is how the Tamil Nadu Premier League took shape. Eight teams played the tournament at three grounds, including the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai, with the best talents from the state were drafted into the franchises.
The lineup included icons from the current generation, namely Murali Vijay, Ravichandran Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik, and some of the players earmarked to make waves in the years to come: Murugan Ashwin along with former and current India-19 stars, Baba Aparajith and Washington Sundar are cases in point.
Chepauk Super Gillies and Dindigul Dragons have been the pace-setters during the group stages. Here, the teams faced off against each other only once in the group stages unlike the Indian Premier League, which is scheduled in a home and away format. The top four teams progress from the group to play the semi-finals.
The story so far:
Being one of the star names in the competition, Dinesh Karthik set the tournament ablaze by setting up his team, Patriots on the first day with a fighting half-century. Having a formidable bowling battery, which includes former India player Lakshmipathy Balaji, Aswin Crist and left-arm spinner, Aushik Srinivas, the Patriots defended a total of 164.
The picturesque stadium in Dindugul, with mountains forming the backdrop to the venue similar to Newlands in Cape Town, made for fascinating viewing. Aparajith smashed a brutal century, to take his side, VB Thiruvallur Veerans to a five-wicket win.
As the tournaments progressed, the contests became gripping. Ruby Kanchi Warriors downed Vijay's Kovai Kings in a one-over eliminator. Dragons and Madurai Super Giants, also played a thrilling rain-curtailed encounter, with the former prevailing by the narrow margin of 14 runs.
The Super Gillies announced their entry into the tournament in a big way, hammering 195/9 against Karaikudi Kaalai, and taking the match by a whopping 67-run margin.
Normal service resumed though with the gulf between the sides being so small. Ramalingam Rohit's heroics for the Veerans helped his team to a thrilling six-run win against Madurai Super Giants. Patriots collapsed to 95 against Kovai Kings, who ran away with the contest, registering a 9-wicket win.
The Patriots continued to struggle despite a much improved display in their next game, which was against the Dragons. A defiant Murugan Ashwin stood out with the bat in a low-scoring contest as the Dragons walked away with the contest in a one-over eliminator.
Kovai Kings displayed great team ethic and grit to defend 137 against Super Gillies, which almost put them out of sight in the race to a semi-final spot.
The last-four battle
The last week of the round-robin stages was frenetic and fast-paced and there was an unsavoury incident that did not reflect well on the league. Ravichandran Ashwin lost his cool as he almost came to blows with Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, who riled the Dragons up after picking up a wicket at a crucial juncture in the game between the two teams.
Despite a late onslaught by the inspired Dragons, the Super Gillies held on to win the game by six runs. At the business end, Kovai Kings lost some of their early rhythm as they slumped to two back-to-back defeats. They defeated Dragons by 16 runs in what was a must-win tie for the side.
Dragons' superior run-rate help them scrape through to the last-four at the expense of Karaikudi Kaalai and the Veerans: All three teams were locked on eight points each.
The wickets and the players
In the decades that went by, Tamil Nadu cricketers were renowned for diligently following the rule-book with their workmanlike approach to the game.
The TNPL league has shown that Twenty20 culture, like other parts of the country, has paved the way for street-smart, multi-utility players. Plenty of players showed that they have an edgy streak about them but the state still lags behind slightly in terms of power-hitters of the likes of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh's ilk. Aparajith though, made a very compelling case for himself with a blistering ton.
Spin ruled the roost in plenty of games, and some of the slow surfaces played a pivotal role in fielding some thrilling low-scoring contests; there were two games that were decided by eliminators. The fielding has been first-rate for the most part, and the crowds have gradually filled in, especially in smaller centres like Tirunelveli and Dindigul.
The final
The Dragons faced the TUTI Patriots in the first semi-final at Tirunelveli on Friday and the Super Gillies battled it out against Lyca Kovai Kings at the Chidambaram Stadium.
The Dragons suffered a significant blow after the BCCI stopped Ravichandran Ashwin's participation in the semi-final against the Patriots, who had a slender edge in the contest. However, Ashwin's absence did cost the side as they lost to the Patriots by 38 runs to enter the final. They will face Super Gillies, who beat the dark horse Kovai Kings by 17 runs. Sunday promises to be a fiery affair will both teams looking to win the maiden Tamil Nadu Premiere League title.