KPL 2016 rescheduled: Matches of the Mysuru phase shifted to Hubli

The first phase of KSCA’s much-awaited fifth edition T20 cricket tournament, the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) powered by Cycle Agarbathies scheduled to be held in Mysuru from Friday, September 16, has been shifted to Hubbali owing to the unpleasant prevailing conditions in certain parts of the state.

Due to the unavoidable situation, the KPL Governing Council which met on Tuesday noon decided to swap the phases between the two cities, Mysuru and Hubbali. Thus the first phase matches will now be held at the KSCA Stadium in Rajnagar, Hubbali.

Consequent to the swapping of phases, the tournament will commence a day later, on September 17, 2016. The Hubbali leg will end on September 26. Following a day of rest the second and final phase will be staged in Mysuru from September 28 to October 2. This has caused the dates of the matches to be shifted by a day, with the resultant changes in schedule as well.

Thus, as per the revised schedule,  Namma Shvamogga are now slated to play the tournament opener against home team Hubli Tigers in a morning match on Saturday. Three matches are planned for the opening day, with champions Bijapur Bulls playing the marquee match under lights against Belagavi Panthers. Barring Saturdays, there would be two matches a day on all days in the league phase. The first match would start at 1.30 p.m. and the second match, to be played under lights, would start at 5.30 p.m. Saturdays have an additional match, at 9.30 a.m.

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The final is to be staged under lights on Sunday, October 2 in Mysuru.

It may be recalled that KPL is an acknowledged nursery for Indian cricket and many IPL franchisees scout the tournament for fresh talent. A number of exciting talent, including Shivl Kaushik, KC Cariappa, Kishore Kamath, J Suchith, besides Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey made waves in IPL after honing their skills in KPL.

These players, along with Vinay Kumar, Robin Uthappa, Abhimanyu Mithun, Sreenath Aravind, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sharath and CM Gautham have ensured that KPL and Karnataka provide the highest number of players for IPL. The forthcoming KPL would throw up a few more exciting talent, according to those in the know.

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