Visakhapatnam all set to host maiden Andhra Premier League from Wednesday

VISAKHAPATNAM: Vizag is all set to host the maiden Andhra Premier League T20 at the ACA VDCA Stadium from Wednesday.

The APL, a brainchild of the Andhra Cricket Association, will be a perfect platform for local players to showcase their talent, according to ACA spokesperson. Auction of players was held for six franchisees and 120 players were picked from a pool of over 300. The APL will be conducted on the lines of IPL and will be telecast live. 

The teams include Vizag Warriors, Bezawada Tigers, Coastal Riders, Godavari Titans, Rayalaseema Kings and Uttarandhra Lions. The inaugural match will be played between Coastal Riders and Godavari Titans at 1 pm on Wednesday.  

Each team will play five matches. Eliminator 1 and qualifier 1 and 2 matches will be held on July 15 and 16. The tournament will conclude with a grand finale on July 17. 

Meanwhile, home team Vizag Warriors is gearing up for the tournament. It will meet Bezawada Tigers in its opening match. Vizag Warriors franchisee and Pulsus Group CEO Srinubabu Gedela said Vizag Warriors in the APL is a brand of Vizag.

After launching the Warriors logo and the theme song on Tuesday, he felt very happy to win the franchisee of the home team as he studied and grew up as a big entrepreneur in Visakhapatnam. 

He said they will encourage rural talent in cricket to become national and international players. The APL is a perfect platform to enter IPL and become an international player. There has been a great demand for Vizag Warriors among all the APL franchisees. Hence, they quoted the highest bid for Vizag Warriors, he said.

In the team, there are players who played national, Ranji and IPL, besides more all rounders. Performance of local players will improve if they play along with national players. He said they appointed the BCCI certified coach and assistant staff. He hoped that they will win the APL championship for Vizag Warriors. 

K Ashwin Hebbar, captain of Vizag Warriors, is a right hand batsman and played for Delhi Capitals in IPL. Naren Reddy, all rounder, is a standby member of the U-19 world cup team. Kartik Raman, Dheeruv Kumar Reddy, UMS Girinadh, N Jyothi Krishna and Kiran Shinde played for Andhra team in Ranji.

D Vincent Vijay Kumar is Vizag Warriors head coach, T Vamsi Krishna, fielding coach, N Satish Reddy, strength and conditioning coach, and Sheik Imaran Pasha, performance analyst. The strong Vizag Warriors team will emerge as the top performer of the APL, Srinubabu hoped.