TNPL 2024 Preview: Chepauk Super Gillies favourites to win

The highly anticipated eighth season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL 2024) is set to kick off on July 5 with Chepauk Super Gillies taking on the defending champions Lyca Kovai Kings at Salem Cricket Foundation Ground. 

This exciting eight-team tournament will take place across five venues in Tamil Nadu—Salem, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Dindigul, and Chennai. The Qualifier 2 and final are scheduled at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on August 4.

Cricket fans can look forward to seeing stars like Ravichandran Ashwin, Vijay Shankar, Narayan Jagadeesan, R Sai Kishore, Varun Chakravarthy, Shahrukh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, and Washington Sundar in action.

The tournament starts with nine matches at the SCF Cricket Ground in Salem from July 5-11, followed by eight games at Sri Ramakrishna College Ground in Coimbatore from July 13-18. Next, six matches will be held at ICL Sankar Nagar Cricket Ground in Tirunelveli from July 20-24, and seven more, including Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator, at NPR College Ground in Dindigul from July 26-31.

There will be seven double-header days, with matches at 3:15 PM and 7:15 PM. Plus, the playoffs will have reserve days to ensure there will be a winner.

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History of TNPL tournament

Tamil Nadu Premier League was introduced in 2016 and has had seven editions so far. It has been a massive success, becoming a great platform for young players to showcase their skill set and put themselves on the map for the higher honours in the Indian Premier League.

Chepauk Super Gillies are the most successful franchise in the TNPL, having won the tournament four times in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022. Salem Spartans (2016), Siechem Madurai Panthers (2018) and Lyca Kovai Kings (2022, 2023) are the other three winners in the league’s history. In 2022, the trophy was shared by Chepauk Super Gillies and Lyca Kovai Kings after the final ended in a no result due to rain.

The 2023 edition saw Lyca Kovai Kings lift the trophy after they hammered Nellai Royal Kings in the final by 104 runs. Siechem Madurai Panthers and Dindigul Dragons were the other two teams to reach the playoffs.

Check out the previous TNPL champions and runners-up in each season.

Bet on the TNPL 2024 season on 22Bet

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TNPL 2024 Fixtures

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Team Previews

Chepauk Super Gillies, the former four-time TNPL champions, didn’t have a great season last year as they missed out on the playoffs by one win. They won three games in the tournament and lost four. CSG will rely on Baba Aparajith, Narayan Jagadeesan, and M Silambarasan for a better campaign this time around.

Dindigul Dragons have always been one of the strongest teams but haven’t managed to win the tournament. They finished second in the group stage last year with six wins in seven games before losing both Qualifiers to crash out.

IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans finished sixth on the points table in the previous edition, winning only two games and losing five. With players such as R Sai Kishore, T Natarajan and Vijay Shankar, they will be hoping for a better season this time.

Lyca Kovai Kings, who had to share the trophy in 2022, clinched the last championship in a dominant style. They topped the group stage with six wins before beating Dindigul Dragons in Qualifier 1 and Nellai Royal Kings in the final.

Nellai Royal Kings reached the final of the TNPL 2023 after beating Siechem Madurai Panthers in Eliminator and Dindigul Dragons in Qualifier 2. They suffered a heavy defeat in the final but it was an impressive campaign, with excellent performances from Guruswamy Ajitesh, Arun Karthik, and Sonu Yadav.

Siechem Madurai Panthers finished fourth in the group stage last year with four wins and three losses. They were knocked out after losing Eliminator against Nellai by four runs. Washington Sundar, Hari Nishaanth, Gurjapneet Singh and Murugan Ashwin will be key for them in the upcoming season.

Salem Spartans had a pretty ordinary campaign in the previous TNPL season, finishing seventh on the table with two victories and five defeats. They will be relying on the likes of Sunny Sandhu, M Poiyamozhi, and Muhammed Adnan Khan in the 2024 edition.

Trichy Grand Cholas had a disastrous season in 2023, where they finished at the bottom of the table after losing all seven games. Trichy will be hoping for good returns from Sanjay Yadav, K Easwaran and Jafar Jamal in this season.

 

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Who will win the TNPL 2024?

Looking at the betting markets, the top three contenders to win the TNPL 2024 are Chepauk Super Gillies, Dindigul Dragons and Lyca Kovai Kings.

The Super Gillies, with four TNPL trophies to their name, are favourites to win the upcoming season. Boasting one of the strongest lineups in the history of the league, the Gillies have the firepower needed to secure their fifth trophy in the upcoming season. They have Baba Aparajith, Narayan Jagadeesan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul and N Silambarasan in the line-up. You can bet on them to win the TNPL at odds of 4.50 on 22Bet.

Dindigul Dragons have come close on multiple occasions but have not won the TNPL title yet. However, with the likes of Baba Indrajith, Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Warrier, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shivam Singh in the side, they have the squad to clinch their maiden title. Back the Dragons to win the trophy at odds of 5.00.

The reigning champions Lyca Kovai Kings have a pretty solid squad with the likes of Sai Sudharsan, M Shahrukh Khan, Atheeq Ur Rahman, M Siddharth and M Mohammed. Having made back to back finals and winning one of those, Lyca Kovai Kings are top contenders to win at odds of 5.50.