Tamil Nadu Premier League 2021 Postponed Due To COVID-19

The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2021 has been indefinitely postponed due to the lockdown imposed by the government in view of the current alarming covid-19 situation in the state.

The fifth edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League was slated to commence June 4 with the final scheduled on July 4. Four cities – Tirunelveli, Dindigul, and Salem, Coimbatore – were decided to host the season, with Salem, which is also the hometown of India pacer T Natarajan, slated to host the final. The M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, or the Chepauk, in Chennai, wasn’t picked to conduct any games this season owing to the surge in covid-19 cases in the city.

However, now the 8-team Tamil Nadu Premier League 2021 has been postponed and will be pushed back. The plan for the commencement of the season will be laid once the lockdown is eased up in the state.

“There is a lockdown effect in Tamil Nadu now. So, once we have an idea in terms of when it is going to be relaxed, only then can we take a call. Since we do not have clarity on when the restrictions will be eased, we have postponed the tournament. We were supposed to start the tournament on June 4,” Prasanna Kannan, Chief Executive Officer of TNPL, told Inside Sport.

“We are monitoring the situation. We will have a discussion with the government and then once we have a decision, we will announce the revised schedule,” he added.

Kaushik Gandhi’s Chepauk Super Gillies are the defending champions having won the previous edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League in 2019.

MCA, KSCA postponed their leagues amid covid crisis

Earlier, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) have suspended their plans for their respective T20 tournaments despite receiving the nod from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The third edition of the Mumbai T20 League and the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) both were deferred by their state boards owing to the worsening covid-19 condition in both states.

While the three major boards have suspended their leagues, the Saurashtra Cricket Association is yet to announced that as they wait for the Gujarat government’s approval.

These leagues are taking the knock-on effect of the IPL 2021 getting suspended earlier in May following the breach of the bio-bubbles as players and staff members tested positive for the virus.

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