The Indian Premier League inspired several state cricket associations to start their own T20 tournaments. Though some took off and then ran out of steam, a few are still going strong.
Why Are Provincial T20 Leagues Important?
Provincial T20 tournaments like the Karnataka Premier League are providing young cricketers a stepping stone for the future. Apart from a chance to rub shoulders with their national team heroes, these state-level leagues are also a good stage to showcase their skills to selectors and talent scouts.
Provincial T20 tournaments like the Karnataka Premier League are providing young cricketers a stepping stone for the future. Apart from a chance to rub shoulders with their national team heroes, these state-level leagues are also a good stage to showcase their skills to selectors and talent scouts.
Case in point is KC Cariappa. After just one season in the Karnataka Premier League, the leg-spinner was bought by IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders last year for a whopping Rs 2.4 crore, when his base price was Rs 10 Lakh. Kunal Kapoor, the skipper of KPL side Hubli Tigers is chuffed about the opportunity, "I think this (KPL) is a great platform. Through eight franchisees there are a lot of cricketers who get the opportunity to participate in a big tournament like this."
Robin Uthappa is one of the biggest names in the KPL. The 29-year-old who has been an integral part of a World Cup winning Indian team, is all praises. Uthappa says, "They (organisers) are very aware of what the players want and they give us the freedom to express."
The league also got former India cricketers like Sunil Joshi and David Johnson out of retirement this season. Sunil Joshi gives credit to Kanadda movie star Kiccha Sudeep who managed to pursue Joshi and many others like David Johnson and Venkatesh Prasad to come out of retirement. But it wasn't an easy comeback. Joshi says, "It was challenging to compete with young and talented players of Karnataka and we loved the challenge".
A good mixture of youth and experience along with a good standard of cricket makes these local T20 tournaments attractive for TV audiences. KPL reached out to 14.5 million viewers during this season helping unknown faces become household names in Karnataka.