Aditya Padinjat (AP): The first leg of the TNPL 2026 is over and the second is just about to get underway. 20 games into the season, we now know who is doing well, who is struggling and who the star performers have been. I’m Aditya, joining me is my colleague Siddanth and we’re going to break down all of the key highlights from this first Dindigul leg of the TNPL 2026.
Starting with the tabletopper Madurai Panthers, it won its first four games on the bounce, lost the last one, but have looked pretty much like the form team so far. What have you made of them, who have been the standout players?
Siddanth Nair (SN): I think the law of averages caught up with them. They won their first four matches on the bounce, but they’ve looked like the team to beat. Like you said, five games, four wins.
NS Chaturved has been quite impressive with the bat. So everything’s kind of clicked for them. All three departments have been doing well for the Madurai Panthers.
Below the Madurai Panthers is where it gets interesting. So all teams played five matches, each team got two games to go. There are four teams on six points each – Chepauk Super Gillies, iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, Nellai Royal Kings, as well as Trichy Grand Cholas.
The Trichy Grand Cholas were looking good, actually. They were second before they lost heavily in their last match, a massive 116-run loss to the Kovai Kings. So that will be the interesting battle going into the last few games, those four teams, to see which of those four teams can make it to the top four.
Then one team that’s definitely not going to be in play is, unfortunately, the Salem Spartans. They’ve lost all five of their games.
The Kovai Kings have looked good. Individually, they’ve been good. B. Sachin is the top-run scorer, Deepan Lingesh is the highest wicket-taker. But as the saying goes, cricket is a team sport, and that’s just something that they’ve not been able to do consistently. They sit sixth on the table right now, with two wins from five games. So M. Shahrukh Khan will be hoping his side can build on that confidence-boosting 116-run win to maybe push off with a few games to go.
AP: The Kovai Kings obviously had their season set back. They raised at what at that time was the highest score in TNPL history, 239 against Madurai Panthers, but Chaturvedi scored the fastest century in TNPL, to haul it down.
To go back to a couple of the teams who are towards the top of the table, the Chepauk Super Gillies and Tiruppur Tamizhans, who have looked probably like the form teams. Who have been the standout players from those two teams?
SN: I think I want to special mention to Tirupur Tamizhans. I think a lot of praise should go to Tushar Raheja, the player of the tournament from the 2025 edition. He’s looked in prime form this season as well.
I want to touch up on the IPL a little bit. You see teams with both their opener scoring generally doing well, right? I feel like the same template has followed through in the TNPL as well, especially for the Tamizhans, it’s been Amith Sathwik and Tushar Raheja. They’ve both been on the top of their game.
So, Sai Kishore will hope that his openers can continue to keep the runs flowing.
AP: I think there’s a fair chance that those two could end up opening for Tamil Nadu at some point in time.
SN: I think with the disappointing season they had last year, it would be a good show to have both Sathwik and Raheja opening for the white ball teams at least. They’ve looked in fine touch.
And like I said, Madurai Panthers, Chaturved as well as the bowling attack have looked good.
AP: So, these are some of the younger players – Tushar Raheja and Amith Sathwik. Let’s give a shout out to a more experienced player who’s looked fantastic, which is N. Jagadeesan. Tell me a little bit about how he’s gone.
SN: It’s been a bit of a one-man show, I would say, with Jagdishan. I mean, the rest of the team haven’t really put in the performances that he would have liked.
But Jagadeesan has stood his ground and he’s kept the runs flowing. He’s scored runs consistently and he’s kind of been the only senior player who’s done well this season.
Unfortunately, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, and B. Sai Sudharsan are injured, it’s a long injury list, unfortunately. But I feel like he’s the only senior player who’s done well in the TNPL.
Shahrukh Khan has not really had the season that he would have hoped for, as well as Sai Kishore. With the ball, he’s been good, he’s been consistent. He’s been good from an economy point of view. But the experiment of being number three with the bat, he would ideally like more runs with the bat.
So, Sai Kishore can do a lot better, as can Shah Rukh Khan and Gurjapneet as well. I mean, that first game for the Madurai Panthers with the bat, he (Gurjapneet) kind of stole the match for them with that iconic bat drop in the end, but he’s been quite expensive with the ball. He’s supposed to lead the Madurai Panthers bowling attack. But fortunately for them, it’s not really affected them.
So, Jagadeesan has really stood out for his team, I’d say.
AP: So, there have been four centuries already in this TNPL, which is the most for a single edition of the TNPL. Two of them have come from really exciting young players, Mokit Hariharan and S Shyam Sundar.
Can you tell me a little bit about some of the exciting young players who we’ve seen in this TNPL so far?
SN: Yeah, I think in that first match, Nirankar Sharma was very impressive. He’s an outstation player who plays for the Dindigul Dragons.
He’s been very impressive with the ball as well. Ashwanth Valthappa as well. He is somebody who’s been around for a while, but he’s still quite young. He’s been quite impressive with the ball as well.
And like the youngsters that I mentioned already in the video, Hariharan, you just mentioned Shyam Sundar as well. The Tiruppur Tamizhans openers as well, Amith Sathvik and Tushar Raheja.
So, these are some of the youngsters. It’s nice to see them coming through, putting in consistent performances. So, hopefully, the trend continues. More young players can, you know, keep up.
AP: And briefly to touch on it, it’s been a very high-scoring edition of TNPL so far. It’s encapsulated by one game, which I feel will go down in history. That was the game between the Dindigul Dragons and Salem Spartans, the bottom two teams in TNPL. It was a 15-over game, shortened by rain, and the Dindigul Dragons scored 240 in 15 overs.
I believe there’s a player in that game who we wanted to give a special shout-out to.
SN: Special shout-out to Baba Indrajith. With all due respect, I was not aware of your game. But that was some innings, 73 from 25. That was some hitting, I didn’t think he had something like that in his game.
But it was nice to see Indrajith as well as the captain leading from the front from his team. I remember watching that match live and I briefly stepped away because I had some other work, and then when I saw the score was 240 in 15 overs, I was quite curious who really did the bulk of the scoring.
And when I saw Indrajith’s name up there, I was quite impressed. Because, let’s face it, he’s not somebody you look at as a power hitter or a six-hitter, right? He’s somebody who relies more on, you know, playing shots down the ground with his strokes. So, it was nice to see with the game evolving, becoming more batting-centric and batters relying more on hitting and sixes, Indrajith playing that kind of innings for his team.
AP: Lastly to wrap up, two rapid-fire questions. We’ll both answer them. Whas been your standout moment of the season so far?
I think it’s been Indrajith’s innings. I would say that has been my standout moment so far for me personally.
What about you?
AP: Personally, I’m going to, this is, I’m a fan of, I love watching bowlers in general.. So, I’m going to say Rohan Ravi Bhutra, he’s a leg spinner with a slightly strange action. He bowled with figures of two for nine in one game. That was an amazing spell.
So, that is my standout moment, just a little bit under the radar, but also Madurai Panthers chasing 240 has to be there. Has to be there. And lastly, given where the table is set, what is your prediction for who will go to the playoffs?
SN: I’m going to say Tiruppur Tamizhans is going to finish top of the table, Madurai Panthers second.
Nellai Royal Kings has looked really good, actually. I mean, the last few, last two games have not gone in their favor. Another player who has been quite impressive is Sonu Yadav, their captain. He’s been quite consistent with both bat and ball, especially in those first three games.
I think in every game, he picked up at least two wickets and chipped in with 30-odd runs and 15 balls, I think, in those first three games for Nellai Royal Kings. So, I back the Nellai Royal Kings to go through as well.
As for the fourth team, I would have said Trichy Grand Cholas, but I don’t know where their confidence is after their last loss.
So, Tiruppur Tamizhans, Madurai Panthers, Nellai Royal Kings, and you know what, Chepauk Super Gillies.
AP: Personally, I’m going to say Madurai Panthers, Tiruppur Tamizhans, Chepauk Super Gillies, and I will stick with Trichy Grand Cholas.
Published on Aug 18, 2026
