Chennai: Youngster Daryl S Ferrario will lead Salem Spartans in the TNPL to be played from July to August in Chennai and other districts subject to permission from the Tamil Nadu Government.They first offered the job to Vijay Shankar but he declined to lead so they chose Ferrario.Apart from Spartans, Nellai Royal Kings (team formerly owned by VB Chandrasekar) and iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans made the most of the draft pool by picking seven players each to their respective teams.
We are waiting for permission from the Tamil Nadu Government to have the league. Once the approval comes we will draw up the schedule and venues. We will also follow all the protocols strictly, said Prasanna Kannan, CEO of TNPL.
Sandeep Warrier, currently part of the Indian team as a net bowler on their tour of Sri Lanka will make his TNPL debut for defending champions Chepauk Super Gillies.
The tournament will miss prominent names such as R Ashwin (Dindigul Dragons) and
Washington Sundar (Salem Spartans) as they are on national duty. There is also uncertainty on the availability of left-arm pacer T Natarajan (Lyca Kovai Kings) who is currently recovering after a knee surgery. Meanwhile, Abhinav Mukund chose not to be part of the draft. The teams are expected to enter the bio-bubble by July 4.