League Lead

Some of the leagues that were held rather inspired by the IPL,over the last year and continue now include the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL),the Pune District Premier League (PDPL),the Baramati Premier League (BPL) and a college level festival held by Symbiosis called the Symbiosis Premier League (SPL). In addition to this,a spate of Inter Information Technology Cricket T20 tournaments and Corporate Cricket T20 tournament were all a part of the city’s sporting calendar,all inspired by the IPL. Nachikhet Chidgopkar,Director,White Copper Entertainment,that organises the inter IT tourneys says,“The whole idea behind these tournaments is to provide even corporate or IT professionals with a platform to showcase their playing talents. And since the concept of the IPL was such a hit,the shorter version of the game was a good way of promoting as well as allowing them to showcase their talent.”

Modeled on a similar note,the Maharashtra Premier League which held its maiden run last year,featured a total of eight teams- Devgiri Emperors,Rajgad Royals,Sinhagad Supremos,Torna Tigers,Shivneri Lions,Panhala Panthers,Pratapgad Warriors and Sindhudurg Sailors. The concept was a great hit amongst the localites of the city,because the state sponsored league was a refreshingly good way of showcasing the talent of the state. “The event was designed to be player centric. In all our decisions,it was players who got the first priority. In fact Harshad Khadiwale who is playing for Kolkata Knight Riders,Kedar Jadhav of Delhi Dare Devils,Jitendra Dhule of Royal Challengers are some of the players who proved their mettle at the MPL before joining the IPL squad,” says Chitgopkar.

While MPL was player centric,residents of Baramati came up with the Baramati Premiere League (BPL) to celebrate the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti. “Unlike IPL,this was not a professional sporting event. BPL was an inter school cricketing tournament. With changing times,students need to focus not just on studies but also on extra curricular activities such as sports and arts. This league was organised to provide a platform to students. And what better than Shiv Jayanti could be the right occasion to launch the event,” says Navid Pathan,secretary,Amhi Baramatikar Pratishthan,the organisers of the tournament.

While the leagues were a great hit on the state and the city level,colleges too seem to have taken a que out of the same and modeled leagues of their own. For instance lets take the case of Symbiosis College. The Symbiosis International campus at Lavale has come up with the recently concluded Symbiosis Premier League modeled on similar lines. Faisal Siddiqui,one of the students of the who was on the organising committee of the same,says,“While it wasn’t exactly a T20 league,and it was more of a Super Nine tournament,we had the match broadcast live on the big screens in the campus. We had a total of 27 college,and 3 corporate,teams participate in the tournament. We however did have features like the pre and post match analysis,interviews with the players and the coaching staff,and also the audiences just to give it a very T20 feel.”

Inspired Premier Leagues

* Maharashtra Premier League

* Symbiosis Premier League

* Baramati Premier League

* Pune District Premier League