Sher-e-Punjab T20 League: Six franchises, star icons unveiled; tournament to begin on August 30

The six franchises and their icon players are: Fazilka Falcons, Shubman Gill; Ludhiana Lions, Arshdeep Singh; Amritsar Soormaaz, Abhishek Sharma; Jalandhar Warriors, Prabhsimran Singh; Mohali Kings, Ramandeep Singh; and Bathinda Royals, Gurnoor Brar.

“The land of Punjab has always produced talented players for the country. Our government is continuously working to connect the youth with sports and further strengthen Punjab in the field of sports,” Mann said.

Each franchise will have a salary purse of Rs 45 lakh. The price of a marquee player for the auction has been fixed at Rs 10 lakh, while the base price for an icon player is Rs 1.50 lakh. The base prices for Punjab players, Punjab U-23 players, Punjab U-19 players and Punjab district players have been fixed at Rs 1 lakh, Rs 75,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively.

The player auction will be held in Chandigarh on August 9. A pool of more than 450 players from Punjab has been created for the auction, including prominent names such as Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Naman Dhir, Vihaan Malhotra, Imanjot Singh Chahal, Ashwani Kumar and Krish Bhagat.

According to Mann, 21 players from Punjab featured in the IPL this year and will be among the major attractions of the state’s own T20 league. The six teams, representing Amritsar, Fazilka, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali and Bathinda, will play in a round-robin format, with each side playing eight league matches.

Mann said the league would provide young cricketers from Punjab an opportunity to play on a major platform and share the dressing room with established players.

“Sports are the principal weapon in the battle against drugs. The ‘Khedan Watan Punjab Diyan’ sporting event is being successfully organised every year across the state. Likewise, more than 3,100 sports grounds are being developed to promote sporting culture in the state,” he said.

He added that Punjab will also host the Hockey Asian Champions Trophy for the first time in October-November, with the state having been granted the hosting rights by Hockey India and the International Hockey Federation.

The Indian cricketers present at the meeting, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh and Ramandeep Singh, also presented a cricket bat and ball to Mann as a mark of respect.