# 2021 Tamil Nadu Premier League

The 2021 Tamil Nadu Premier League, also known as (TNPL-5) or, for sponsorship reasons, Shriram Capital TNPL, was the fifth season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) in 2016 . It was scheduled from July 19 to August 15, 2021. The revised schedule was announced by TNCA on 7 July 2021 with all the matches played in Chennai. Chepauk Super Gillies were the defending champions from the 2019 edition of TNPL, while the 2020 edition was postponed and then cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
On 6 August 2021, Chepauk Super Gillies became the first team to qualify to the playoffs after they beat Lyca Kovai Kings. Later, the following day, Dindigul Dragons became the second team, qualified to the playoffs, after their win over IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans. On 8 August 2021, the final day of League stage, Lyca Kovai Kings confirmed their playoffs spot, after beating Nellai Royal Kings. At the end of the league stage, Ruby Trichy Warriors who were finished on top of the table, also qualified for playoffs.
In the first qualifier, Ruby Trichy Warriors defeated the Chepauk Super Gillies to seat a place in the final. Dindigul Dragons through to the second qualifier, after they beat Lyca Kovai Kings in the eliminator match. On 13 August 2021, Chepauk Super Gillies defeated the Dindigul Dragons to face the Ruby Trichy Warriors in the final.
Defending champions Chepauk Super Gillies successfully retained their title with a 8 run win against Ruby Trichy Warriors in the final on 15 August 2021.

## Background

Originally, the league was scheduled to take place from June 2021. In June 2021, the tournament was suspended for an indefinite amount of time due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions in Tamil Nadu. However, on 26 June 2021, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the tournament would resume from July 2021. TNCA was planned to resume the tournament as they got the clearance from the state government. Subsequently, on 7 July 2021, TNCA got approval from the state government and announced the revised schedule.

## Teams
### Teams

There are eight franchises competing in league. The franchises are named after a district it is representing in the state. Each team can have a maximum of 22 players that includes two outstation players. In 2020, two of the franchises changed their names and bases – VB Kanchee Veerans now renamed as Nellai Royal Kings .
| Team | City | District | Captain | Coach | Owner |
| Chepauk Super Gillies | Chennai | Chennai | Kaushik Gandhi | Hemang Badani | Metronation Chennai Television Private Limited – Dailythanthi |
| Dindigul Dragons | Dindigul | Dindigul | Hari Nishanth | Subramaniam Badrinath | Take Solutions Ltd |
| IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans | Tiruppur | Tiruppur | M. Mohammed | Ramaswamy Prasanna | iDream Cinemas and iDream Properties |
| Lyca Kovai Kings | Coimbatore | Coimbatore | Shahrukh Khan | Sriram Somayajula | Lyca Productions |
| Nellai Royal Kings | Tirunelveli | Tirunelveli | Baba Aparajith | Jayakumar G | Crown Forts Limited |
| Ruby Trichy Warriors | Tiruchirapalli | Tiruchirapalli | Rahil S Shah | Guruswamy | Ruby Builders |
| Salem Spartans | Salem | Salem | Daryl Sundar Ferrarrio | B. Ramprakash | Vivo Chennai south distributor Selvakumar M |
| Siechem Madurai Panthers | Madurai | Madurai | N S Chaturvedi | Selvam Suresh Kumar | Pooja Damodaran |

## Venue

A total of three venues were used until 2019. Grounds in Dindigul and Tirunelveli hosts every match in the league stages between them. Tournament were planned to start at Tirunelveli and finals to be held at Salem Cricket Foundation Stadium.
Two new venues in Salem and Coimbatore were slated to host matches from 2020 onwards. The ground in Coimbatore was expected to host matches in the fourth season itself. But TNCA wanted age-group tournaments held there first before TNPL. Initially, no matches were scheduled to play in Chennai venue for the season.
As per the revised schedule announced on 7 July 2021, all the matches were played at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
* Tamil Nadu
* Chennai
* M. A. Chidambaram Stadium
* Capacity: 50,000

## Squads

| Chepauk Super Gillies | Dindigul Dragons | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans | Lyca Kovai Kings | Ruby Trichy Warriors | Nellai Royal Kings | Salem Spartans | Siechem Madurai Panthers |
| Kaushik Gandhi (c) B Arun S Vijayakumar Rajagopal Sathish R Ram Arvind RS Jaganath Srinivas V Santhana Sekar Manimaran Siddharth S Sujay S Harish Kumar V Arun Kumar H Prasidh Akash R Sai Kishore Narayan Jagadeesan V Sai Prakash R Alexander U Sasidev Sonu Yadav Rahul D Sandeep Warrier Radhakrishnan S | R Srinivasan (c) K Vishal Vaidhya S Arun Advaith Sharma R Suthesh S Swaminathan L Vignesh RS Mokit Hariharan S Lokeshwar C Hari Nishaanth C Ashwin MS Sanjay V Lakshman K Mani Bharathy AR Siva Murugan Gurjapneet Singh R Vimal Khumar Kishan Kumar S Vigneshwaran S Ravichandran Ashwin R Vivek M Silambarasan | M. Mohammed (c) S Dinesh S Manigandan RI Raajkumar S Mohan Prasath S Siddharth S Aravind Maan K Bafna P Francis Rokins K Gowtham Thamarai Kannan Aswin Crist Tushar Raheja A Karuppusamy C Shriram Mohammed Ashik N Affan Khader M Adithya Giridhar Saathiyaannaryan L M Rooban Raj Mohan Prasath S Maan K Bafna R Rajkumar Natarajan ST Ashwin Balaji S Dinesh Karthik | Shahrukh Khan (c) P Shijit Chandran J Suresh Kumar J Gowjith Subash K Vignesh GR Manish R Kavin G Aravindh V Ganga Sridhar Raju U Mukilesh Abhishek Tanwar MA Atheeq Ur Rahman N Selva Kumaran Ashwin Venkataraman Sai Sudharsan Nishanth Kumar Alwar Srinivasan E Thangarasu Natarajan Kiran Kasshyap Yudheeswaran V Anandakumar S S Ajith Ram | Rahil S Shah (c) B Rahul Akash Sumra ME Yazh Arun Mozhi Anirudha Srikkanth M Poiyamozhi S Santosh Shiv W Antony Dhas Aditya Ganesh Nidhish S Rajagopal R Ganesh Sumant Jain Muhammed Adnan Khan P Saravana Kumar VP Amith Sathvik G Hemanth Kumar K Mukunth G Karthick Shanmugam Mathivanan Karthik R Murali Vijay | Baba Aparajith (c) H Trilok Nag CH Jitendra Kumar Sanjay Yadav R V Athisayaraj Davidson T Ajith Kumar M Abhinav NS Harish Pradosh Ranjan Paul S Sharun Kumar Baba Indrajith Ashwath Mukunthan L Suryap Prakash S Senthil Nathan Jitendra Kumar CH Rohit Ram R Sathraj A Veeramani T Sri Neranjan R Vivek R Suresh C Arjun P Murthy. | Darryl Sundar Ferrario (c) Praneesh B Abhishek S Akshay V Srinivasan Murugan Ashwin Boopalan S Ganesh Moorthi KH Gopinath Lokesh Raj TD Periyasamy G Shubam Mehta Sushil U Vijay Shankar Vijay Kumar M Washington Sundar Karthikeyan R Kishoor G Aarif A R Karthikeyan M Suganesh Abhinav Vishnu AVR Ratnam Mihir R | NS Chaturved (c) R Mithun V Gowtham PS Nirmal Kumar P Praveen Kumar B Anirudh Sita Ram KB Arun Karthik R Rohit R Aushik Srinivas J Kousik DT Chandrasekar V Aaditya R Silambarasan M Shahjahan K Deeban Lingesh Varun Chakravarthy J Subramanyam Rajkumar K Sughendiran P Saravanan PK Aaditya V Sunil Sam L Kiran Akash |

## Standings
### Points table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| 1 | Ruby Trichy Warriors (RU) | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0.710 |
| 2 | Chepauk Super Gillies (C) | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0.562 |
| 3 | Dindigul Dragons (3rd) | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0.396 |
| 4 | Lyca Kovai Kings (4th) | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −0.088 |
| 5 | Nellai Royal Kings | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −0.485 |
| 6 | Siechem Madurai Panthers | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0.597 |
| 7 | Salem Spartans | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −0.730 |
| 8 | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | −1.142 |
* Advanced to the qualifiers
* Advanced to the eliminator
* Eliminated from Tournament

### League progression

| | Group matches | Group matches | Group matches | Group matches | Group matches | Group matches | Group matches | Knockout | Knockout | Knockout | Knockout |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Q1 | E | Q2 | Final |
| Chepauk Super Gillies | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | L | | W | C |
| Dindigul Dragons | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | | W | L | |
| IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | | | | |
| Lyca Kovai Kings | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | | L | | |
| Nellai Royal Kings | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | | | | |
| Ruby Trichy Warriors | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | W | | | RU |
| Salem Spartans | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | | | | |
| Siechem Madurai Panthers | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | | | | |
| Team's results | Won | Lost | S/O | N/R |
* C – Champion
* RU – Runner-up

## League stage

Source:

### Fixtures

| Date | Time (IST) | Toss | Team 1 | Margin | Team 2 | Ground | Player of the match |
| July 19, Mon | 07:30 PM | Salem Spartans elected to field | Lyca Kovai Kings 168/5 (18 overs) | Match 1 No result Scorecard | Salem Spartans | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Match abandoned due to rain |
| July 20, Tue | 07:30 PM | Chepauk Super Gillies elected to field | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 64/7 (16.2 overs) | Match 2 No result Scorecard | Chepauk Super Gillies | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Match abandoned due to rain |
| July 21, Wed | 07:30 PM | Nellai Royal Kings elected to field | Ruby Trichy Warriors 151/5 (20 overs) | Match 3 won by 74 runs Scorecard | Nellai Royal Kings 77 (13.4 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Amit Sathvik (RTW) 71 (52) |
| July 22, Thu | 07:30 PM | Siechem Madurai Panthers elected to field | Dindigul Dragons 96 (18.5 overs) | Match 4 won by 6 wickets Scorecard | Siechem Madurai Panthers 97/4 (15 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Jagatheesan Kousik (SMP) 3/23 (4 overs), 31 (26) |
| July 23, Fri | 07:30 PM | Ruby Trichy Warriors elected to bat | Ruby Trichy Warriors 171/7 (20 overs) | Match 5 won by 8 wickets Scorecard | Lyca Kovai Kings 175/2 (18.1 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Ganga Sridhar Raju (LKK) 74 (52) |
| July 24, Sat | 03:30 PM | Chepauk Super Gillies elected to bat | Chepauk Super Gillies 165/7 (20 overs) | Match 6 won by 7 wickets Scorecard | Nellai Royal Kings 167/3 (19.4 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Pradosh Ranjan Paul (NRK) 62 (52) |
| July 24, Sat | 07:30 PM | Salem Spartans elected to bat | Salem Spartans 164/5 (20 overs) | Match 7 won by 16 runs Scorecard | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 148/8 (20 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Daryl Ferrario (SS) 40 (27) |
| July 25, Sun | 03:30 PM | Ruby Trichy Warriors elected to field | Siechem Madurai Panthers 137/6 (20 overs) | Match 8 won by 3 wickets Scorecard | Ruby Trichy Warriors 138/7 (19 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Muhammad Adnan Khan (RTW) 53 (38) |
| July 25, Sun | 07:30 PM | Dindigul Dragons elected to field | Lyca Kovai Kings 201/1 (20 overs) | Match 9 won by 5 wickets Scorecard | Dindigul Dragons 202/5 (18 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Mani Bharathi (DD) 81 (32) |
| July 26, Mon | 07:30 PM | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans elected to field | Nellai Royal Kings 148 (19.5 overs) | Match 10 won by 3 wickets Scorecard | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 149/7 (19.5 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Mann Bafna (ITT) 72 (51) |
| July 27, Tue | 07:30 PM | Dindigul Dragons elected to field | Ruby Trichy Warriors 145/5 (20 overs) | Match 11 won by 5 wickets Scorecard | Dindigul Dragons 149/5 (19.2 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | RS Mokit Hariharan (DD) 41* (26) |
| July 28, Wed | 03:30 PM | Chepauk Super Gillies elected to field | Salem Spartans 142/7 (20 overs) | Match 12 won by 4 wickets Scorecard | Chepauk Super Gillies 145/6 (18.5 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Narayan Jagadeesan (CSG) 52 (40) |
| July 28, Wed | 07:30 PM | Siechem Madurai Panthers elected to field | Lyca Kovai Kings 172/5 (20 overs) | Match 13 won by 19 runs Scorecard | Siechem Madurai Panthers 153/8 (20 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Shahrukh Khan (LKK) 58* (30) |
| July 29, Thu | 07:30 PM | Ruby Trichy Warriors elected to field | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 110/8 (20 overs) | Match 14 won by 7 wickets Scorecard | Ruby Trichy Warriors 111/3 (17.2 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | M Poiyamozhi (RTW) 3/25 (4 overs) |
| July 30, Fri | 07:30 PM | Salem Spartans elected to field | Dindigul Dragons 186/5 (20 overs) | Match 15 won by 76 runs Scorecard | Salem Spartans 109 (18.4 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Vivek R (DD) 59 (41) |
| July 31, Sat | 03:30 PM | Lyca Kovai Kings elected to field | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 162/7 (20 overs) | Match 16 won by 2 runs Scorecard | Lyca Kovai Kings 160/8 (20 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | M Mohammed (ITT) 33 (25) & 4/31 (4 overs) |
| July 31, Sat | 07:30 PM | Nellai Royal Kings elected to field | Siechem Madurai Panthers 144/8 (19.2 overs) | Match 17 No result Scorecard | Nellai Royal Kings | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Match abandoned due to rain |
| Aug 1, Sun | 03:30 PM | Ruby Trichy Warriors elected to field | Salem Spartans 116/8 (20 overs) | Match 18 won by 6 wickets Scorecard | Ruby Trichy Warriors 120/4 (18.3 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Rahil Shah (RTW) 1/16 (4 overs) |
| Aug 1, Sun | 07:30 PM | Dindigul Dragons elected to field | Chepauk Super Gillies 159/7 (20 overs) | Match 19 won by 24 runs Scorecard | Dindigul Dragons 135/8 (20 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Narayan Jagadeesan (CSG) 40 (27) |
| Aug 2, Mon | 07:30 PM | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans elected to field | Siechem Madurai Panthers 184/4 (20 overs) | Match 20 won by 81 runs Scorecard | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 103 (17.4 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | N S Chaturved (SMP) 41* (23) |
| Aug 3, Tue | 07:30 PM | Nellai Royal Kings elected to field | Dindigul Dragons 147/5 (20 overs) | Match 21 won by 5 wickets Scorecard | Nellai Royal Kings 148/5 (18.5 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Baba Aparajith (NRK) 44 (42) |
| Aug 4, Wed | 07:30 PM | Siechem Madurai Panthers elected to bat | Siechem Madurai Panthers 124/9 (20 overs) | Match 22 won by 5 wickets Scorecard | Chepauk Super Gillies 125/5 (18.5 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Manimaran Siddharth (CSG) 4/20 (4 overs) |
| Aug 5, Thu | 07:30 PM | Salem Spartans elected to bat | Salem Spartans 120/8 (20 overs) | Match 23 won by 8 wickets Scorecard | Nellai Royal Kings 121/2 (18.3 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Sanjay Yadav (NRK) 41* (26) |
| Aug 6, Fri | 07:30 PM | Lyca Kovai Kings elected to field | Chepauk Super Gillies 159/7 (20 overs) | Match 24 won by 36 runs Scorecard | Lyca Kovai Kings 123/9 (20 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Rajagopal Sathish (CSG) 64 (32) |
| Aug 7, Sat | 03:30 PM | Dindigul Dragons elected to field | IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans 145/7 (20 overs) | Match 25 won by 6 wickets Scorecard | Dindigul Dragons 147/4 (17 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Rajendran Vivek (DD) 1/23 (3 overs), 57* (28) |
| Aug 7, Sat | 07:30 PM | Salem Spartans elected to bat | Salem Spartans 144/5 (20 overs) | Match 26 won by 11 runs Scorecard | Siechem Madurai Panthers 133/8 (20 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Vijay Shankar (SS) 47 (40), 1/22 (2 overs) |
| Aug 8, Sun | 03:30 PM | Lyca Kovai Kings elected to bat | Lyca Kovai Kings 169/6 (20 overs) | Match 27 won by 7 runs Scorecard | Nellai Royal Kings 162/8 (20 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Shahrukh Khan (SS) 64* (29) |
| Aug 8, Sun | 07:30 PM | Chepauk Super Gillies elected to bat | Chepauk Super Gillies 132 (20 overs) | Match 28 won by 7 wickets Scorecard | Ruby Trichy Warriors 136/3 (19.1 overs) | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | Nidish Rajagopal (RTW) 66* (58) |
| Result | Winner |
| Team 1 | Played 1st innings |

## Playoffs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Final | Final | Final |
| 10 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 10 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 10 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | | | | 15 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 15 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 15 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai |
| 1 | Ruby Trichy Warriors | 157/5 (19.5 overs) | | | | 1 | Ruby Trichy Warriors | 175/7 (20 overs) |
| 2 | Chepauk Super Gillies | 153/3 (20 overs) | 13 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 13 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 13 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 2 | Chepauk Super Gillies | 183/6 (20 overs) |
| | | | 2 | Chepauk Super Gillies | 106/2 (16 overs) | | | |
| 11 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 11 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 11 August 2021 — M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 3 | Dindigul Dragons | 103 (20 overs) | | | |
| 3 | Dindigul Dragons | 144/5 (17.3 overs) | | | | | | |
| 4 | Lyca Kovai Kings | 143/6 (20 overs) | | | | | | |

### Preliminary
#### Qualifier 1

* 10 August 2021 19ː30 (N) Scorecard
| Chepauk Super Gillies 153/3 (20 overs) | v | Ruby Trichy Warriors 157/5 (19.5 overs) |
| Sundaraman Radhakrishnan 82* (54) P Saravana Kumar 2/32 (4 overs) | | Aditya Ganesh 66* (45) Rajagopal Sathish 1/19 (4 overs) |
* Ruby Trichy Warriors won by 5 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Jayaraman Madanagopal and Krishnaraj Srinath Player of the match: Aditya Ganesh (Ruby Trichy Warriors)
* Ruby Trichy Warriors won the toss and elected to field.

#### Eliminator

* 11 August 2021 19ː30 (N) Scorecard
| Lyca Kovai Kings 143/6 (20 overs) | v | Dindigul Dragons 144/5 (17.3 overs) |
| Sai Sudharshan 57 (40) Gurjapneet Singh 3/22 (4 overs) | | Hari Nishanth 59 (44) Yudheeswaran V 2/22 (2 overs) |
* Dindigul Dragons won by 5 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Krishnamachari Srinivasan and Sadashiv Iyer Player of the match: Hari Nishanth (Dindigul Dragons)
* Dindigul Dragons won the toss and elected to field.

#### Qualifier 2

* 13 August 2021 19ː30 (N) Scorecard
| Dindigul Dragons 103 (20 overs) | v | Chepauk Super Gillies 106/2 (16 overs) |
| Chezhian Harinishanth 56 (46) Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 3/14 (4 overs) | | Kaushik Gandhi 53 (41) Rangaraj Suthesh 1/12 (4 overs) |
* Chepauk Super Gillies won by 8 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Saidharshan Kumar and Krishnamachari Srinivasan Player of the match: Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore (Chepauk Super Gillies)
* Chepauk Super Gillies won the toss and elected to field.

### Final

* 15 August 2021 19ː30 (N) Scorecard
| Chepauk Super Gillies 183/6 (20 overs) | v | Ruby Trichy Warriors 175/7 (20 overs) |
| Narayan Jagadeesan 90 (58) Rahil Shah 2/31 (4 overs) | | P Saravana Kumar 45* (25) Sonu Yadav 2/32 (4 overs) |
* Chepauk Super Gillies won by 8 runs M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: Jayaraman Madanagopal and Krishnamachari Srinivasan Player of the match: Narayan Jagadeesan (Chepauk Super Gillies)
* Ruby Trichy Warriors won the toss and elected to field.