Dubai: The third edition of the Consolidated Shipping Services (CSS) Group Kerala Premier League (KPL), UAE’s ‘richest’ domestic tournament, starts on Friday at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Academy Oval ground.
Defending champions Avant Garde Logistics Concord Palakkad Harvestors take on Capital CMC Kochi Diwans in the opening match. Players from different cricketing nations who will be representing the 12 teams named after Kerala’s different districts have arrived in Dubai to compete for the huge prize money of Dh125,000 that awaits the winners.
Total prize money of Dh250,000 is at stake, with the Player of the Tournament can pocket Dh10,000. All the UAE national team players have been bought by the various teams. Players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and even affiliate nations like Hong Kong and Afghanistan will be in action during this tournament which will conclude on November 21.
The team jerseys were presented to the participating teams by Bharat Suresh Gopi, Brand Ambassador and Director of KPL, along with other brand ambassadors and film stars Bhamaa and Narain, Dubai Cricket Council officials and KPL Dubai Management team at a function held at Shangri La Hotel on Wednesday.
Palakkad Harvestors, owned by Shridhar Sarma and coached by P.G. Sundar, has flown in Sri Lankan international player Chamara Kapugedara, who has played in 92 One-Day Internationals, eight Test matches and 21 Twenty20 Internationals. Tamil Nadu players Suresh Kumar and Shijit Chandran will also play for Palakkad team to be lead by Malinda Perera.
Kochi owned by J.R. Santhosh Kumar has roped in UAE skipper Khurram Khan and all-rounder Fasian Asif. This team will be captained by Krishna Chandran, former Kerala Ranji Trophy player who has now represented UAE in international tournaments.
The KPL matches will be held simultaneously at the two Oval grounds. Music band Masala Coffee will perform during the opening match. The tournament has received support from Al Marai, Asten, Capital CMC, Aster Medi city, Tharavadu, Yellow egg cafe, Flagship emirates and Joggy with Cric HQ as the scoring partner and Net Venture as the online partner. Mycricket.ae will provide the live streaming of the matches.
