KPL 2019 to begin on August 16, final in Mysore on September 1
Bengaluru, July 26, 2019: The eighth edition of the eagerly awaited Karnataka Premier League will get underway on August 16 in Bengaluru, with the Bengaluru Blasters set to take on defending champions Bijapur Bulls in the opening fixture of KPL 2019.
Hon. Secretary Sudhakar Rao, Hon. Assistant Secretary Santosh Menon and Official Spokesperson of KSCA Vinay Mruthyunjaya outlined the schedule of matches, disclosing that the final will take place in Mysore on September 1.
Bengaluru will host matches for the first five days before the action shifts to Hubli on August 22. The last leg of the tournament will begin in Mysore on August 27. August 21 and August 26 will serve as rest days as the teams travel to Hubli and Mysuru, respectively.
“The Eliminator Qualifier is being introduced this year to make it that much more exciting and we will have a total of 25 matches,” said Hon. Assistant Secretary Santosh Menon.
Former India player Venkatesh Prasad was the chief guest at the glitzy function at the KSCA in which several high-profile names in Indian cricket were honoured. All the seven team owners and KPL Brand Ambassador Ms Ragini Dwivedi were also felicitated on the occasion.
Though the formal announcement of the event was postponed by a couple of days after Section 144 was imposed in the city, the Player Retention process went on schedule and teams picked their choices before the window closed at 5 pm on July 23.
Unlike last year when four players could be chosen, teams were allowed to retain only two players, forcing them to look into player availability, form and fitness with an even keener eye.
Expectedly, every team opted for marquee players in Pool A, which had a set of 35 players. Only three -- Avinash D (Belagavi), Nihal Ullal and Prithviraj Shekawat (both Shivamogga) -- were retained from Pool B, comprising 202 cricketers.
The final player auction will be held on Saturday, July 27.
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