Andhra Premier League is aimed at nurturing and sending Andhra cricketers to IPL: SR Gopinath Reddy

Andhra Premier League. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The 2023 Andra Premier League (APL) is scheduled to be contested from August 16 to August 27. The tournament will feature six teams- Uttarandhra Lions, Bezawada Tigers, Coastal Riders, Rayalaseema Kings, Godavari Titans, and Vizag Warriors. The competition is played in a round-robin league format, between August 16 and August 23, and will be followed by the Eliminator, Qualifiers 1 and 2. The final of the tournament will be played on August 27.

Ahead of the auction, Uttarandhra and Bezawada retained KS Bharat and Ricky Bhui, respectively. The biggest buy at the APL auction was Hanuma Vihari, who was acquired by the Rayalaseema Kings for a whopping INR 660,000. Meanwhile, M Dheeraj Kumar was bought by Godavari for INR 520,000, while Yarra Prithvi Raj was sold to Uttarandhra for INR 500,000, and Ashwin Hebbar to Vizag for 500,000.

SR Gopinath Reddy, Andhra Cricket Association State Secretary, along with BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) South zone vice-president Gokaraju Gangaraju, flagged off the 3K Run ahead of the T20 tournament on the M.G. Road at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium. The officials handed over the torch to Andhra Pradesh’s Under-19 player Shabanam and ACA apex council member, N Geetha.

Post the flag-off ceremony, SR Gopinath Reddy stated that the Andhra Premiere League aims to nurture and send cricketers from Andhra Pradesh to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Furthermore, As per The Hindu, Reddy stated that the second edition of the APL will be held at the Dr. Y.S.R. Rajasekhar Reddy International Cricket Stadium, in Visakhapatnam, from August 16 to August 27. He added that 120 players from Andhra Pradesh will take part in the tournament.

Andhra Chief Minister extended his support to develop Cricket in the state

Moreover, SR Gopinath Reddy also revealed that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has raised all support needed for the development of cricket and sports in the State. The CM had also directed administrators involved to complete the construction of the international stadium at Mangalagiri.

The ACA joint secretary A. Rakesh, ACA apex council members K.V. Purushotham Rao, Jitendranath Sharma, Krishna District Cricket Association Ad-Hoc committee chairman, T. Trinath Raju along with others. marked their presence during the occasion.