KSCA confirms third edition of Karnataka Premier League

The third edition of the Karnataka Premier League, a franchise-based Twenty20 tournament, will take place this season after a four-year hiatus, the Karnataka State Cricket Association confirmed on Friday.

The Twenty20 tournament, set to take place in August and September, will feature a number of reputed players from Karnataka including Vinay Kumar, Robin Uthappa, Abhimanyu Mithun, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair and KL Rahul. There will, however, not be any players from outside the state playing in the league.

The total number of franchises participating in the event will be confirmed after the completion of the tender process on July 22, though there aren't expected to be more than eight teams.

The existing eight franchises have the first right of refusal provided they agree to the reworked values of the franchises. The existing owners need to get back with their decision on or before July 22.

The players will be picked via an auction. There will be two pools: the first will have players who have represented Karnataka, while the second will include players who compete in the KSCA leagues.

The tournament will be held on the same lines as the first two editions in 2009 and 2010, with every franchise playing the other once and the top four qualifying for the semi-finals. However, two notable additions include an all-star celebrity team led by Kannada film star Sudeep, and the use of pink balls for all the day-night matches, something KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel felt would add to the "glamour and appeal" of the tournament.

The Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Rajnagar Ground in Hubli, and the Gangotri Glades Cricket Ground in Mysore are the three venues for the 16-day event, with the final slated to held on September 7 in Mysore.