KSCA announce return of Karnataka Premier League

The KSCA today announced the revival of the dormant Karnataka Premier League (KPL) with India players including Robin Uthappa and Vinay Kumar expected to participate in the tournament.

Bangalore: The KSCA on Friday announced the revival of the dormant Karnataka Premier League (KPL) with India players including Robin Uthappa and Vinay Kumar expected to participate in the tournament.

The tournament, which will be held after a gap of two years, is scheduled to be held between August and September, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary Brijesh Patel told reporters. "KPL, a vision of our Late President, Scion of Mysore Royal Family, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, will be held between August and September. As a tribute to the Maharaja, the Karnataka Premier League will be named in his memory," he added. The franchises participating in this year`s KPL will be announced after the completion of the tender process on July 22, Patel said. The 16-day tournament will see the teams playing each other with the top four qualifying for the semi-finals. The finals is slated to be held on September 7 at Mysore, Patel said. The total investment to run the tournament is approximately between Rs six to seven crore, KPL Governing Council Member Vinay Mruthyunjaya said. The tournament will be held on the same lines as the first two editions which were held in 2010 and 2011. The highlight of KPL 2014 would be the participation of a celebrity cricket team led by well-known Kannada film star Sudeep, Patel said. "This team will also feature top film stars of the country like Ram Charan Teja, Shabeer Ahluwalia, Tarun Chandra, Arun Benny amongst others," he added. Top international and national cricketers like Vinay, Uthappa, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, S Arvind, Karun Nair, K L Rahul will participate in the tournament, Patel said. Bangalore Metro, Greater Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Hubli-Dharwad, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore Raichur and Shimoga are locations up for grabs by former and new franchises, he said. The T-20 franchise-based league will kick off from Hubli and travel to Bangalore before finally culminating in Mysore.