Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)
Bangalore, Jul 14: The second addition of Karnataka Premier League (KPL-II) will be held from September 18 to October 3 this year. This was informed at a media conference held here on Tuesday July 13, by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) secretary, Brijesh Patel. If the response witnessed in the first edition of the tournament is any indication, cricket craze is set to grip the state soon.
Belgaum Panthers, runner-up of the first edition of KPL, and Bangalore Brigadiers, will play each other in the opening match of this edition. The organizers of KPL, whose objective is to take cricket to rural areas, have planned matches in this year in Bangalore, Hubli, Manipal and Mysore, in that order. The matches in the city will be held under floodlight, whereas in all other venues, the matches will be a day affair. The matches are scheduled to be played at the rate of two per day.
In the first edition of KPL, matches were held in Bangalore and Mysore. KSCA president, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, said that it was decided to hold the matches in Manipal and Hubli too, as the encouragement from the local people for the matches held at Mysore last year was splendid.
In all the four centres, matches will be held for four days each. Eight league matches will be held in Bangalore, Hubli and Manipal. Mysore will host four league matches, two semifinals (Oct 2) and final (Oct 3). Brijesh Patel said that the KPL players will not gain much monetarily by participating in these matches, but they are likely to benefit from the national level publicity they get through their participation.
The franchisees claimed that they did not gain anything during the first edition of KPL. They expressed the hope that the situation will improve during this year. The seasonal transfer of players between the teams will take place from August 15 to 30, after which the teams of 21 players each have to be announced.
Brijesh Patel said that Manipal will host eight matches, i.e, on September 26, 27, 28 and 29. He informed that it was previously planned to organize the matches in Mangalore, but Manipal was preferred because of the facilities available there.
KPL award sposor, Mantri Group vice president, Kiran Mantri, KSCA office bearers, Tallam Venkatesh and Ashokanand, owners and officials of franchisees etc., were present at the media conference.