Mumbai: Business stalwarts Rajdipkumar Gupta, Sandipkumar Gupta, and actor Suriya Sivakumar, promoters of Chennai Singams bought 16 players, including star player Sumeet Dhekale aka ‘Bahubali’ for the inaugural edition of ISPL. The Chennai-based franchise is among the six teams competing in the street-to-stadium league's premiere edition from 6 to 15 March 2024 in Mumbai.

The Chennai Singams team, with a purse of Rs 1 Crore, bought 16 players for a cumulative amount of Rs 96.4 Lakhs, making the team the highest bidder at the auction. Representing Chennai Singams were co-owners, Rajdipkumar Gupta, and the core team consisting of Rahul Pandey, Ashish Jaiswal and Sandeep Jaiswal.  

Entrepreneur Chennai Singams co-owner  Rajdip Gupta said, “Our team strength is our players. We are elated to have bought some of the best players in the lot. The scouting camp that we hosted was very fruitful. Can’t wait for the Chennai Singams team to take to the field.”

Chennai Singams co-owner Suriya Sivakumar said, “Witnessing the dedication, skill and talent on display, namely Sumeet Dhekale, Ketan Mhatre, R. Thavith Kumar, Venkatachalapathi Vignesh among others, I am confident that Chennai Singams will cross a milestone in the upcoming inaugural edition of the Indian Street Premier League. Our team is marked by passion, determination, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Experience and raw talent are hard to resist! Chennai Singams is more than just a team; cricket is more than just a game for us. It’s an emotion!  Like all cricket lovers, I also eagerly await the game of our players in the ISPL matches. Sports and sportsmanship are forever inspirations! Let us roar together, Chennai Singams!"

A team formed with players from different corners of the country, Chennai Singams, bought Sumeet Dhekale for Rs 19 Lakhs who is one of the most expensive players followed by Ketan Mhatre for Rs 16.5, Farman Khan for Rs 10.5 Lakhs, Dilip Binjwa for 9 Lakhs, Sanjay Kanojjiya for Rs 7 Lakhs, Sagar Ali for Rs 4.4 Lakhs, Harish Parmar for Rs 3 Lakhs, Vedant Mayekar for Rs 3 Lakhs, Pankaj Patel for Rs 3 Lakhs, Farhat Ahmad for Rs 3 Lakhs, R. Thavith Kumar for Rs 3 Lakhs, Venkatachalapathi Vignesh for Rs 3 Lakhs, Aniket Sanap for Rs 3 Lakhs, Bablu Patil for Rs 3 Lakhs, Rajdeep Jadeja for Rs 3 Lakhs and Vishwanath Jadhav for Rs 3 Lakhs.

The strength of Chennai Singams comes together with 6 players from the West zone, and two each from the East, North, South, Central and under 19 categories.

Zone Wise Break–Up

East Zone

.   Sagar Ali – Left Handed– Batsman

.   Sanjay Kanojjiya – Left Handed – Batsman – Right Arm spinner

North Zone

.   Farman Khan – Right-Handed – Bowler – Right Arm Fast

.   Farhat Ahmad – Right-Handed – Bowler – Right Arm Fast

South Zone

.   R. Thavith Kumar – All-rounder– Left-Handed – Left Arm Fast

.   Venkatachalapathi Vignesh - All-rounder– Right-Handed – Right Arm Medium

Central Zone

.   Dilip Binjwa – All-rounder– Left-Handed – Left Arm Medium

.   Pankaj Patel – Bowler – Right-Handed – Left Arm Fast

West Zone

 .  Sumeet Dhekale – Batsman – Left Handed

 .  Bablu Patil – All-rounder

 .  Ketan Mhatre – Batsman – Right-Handed – Right Arm Fast

 .  Aniket Sanap – Bowler – Left Handed – Left Arm Spinner

 .  Rajdeep Jadeja – Bowler – Right-Handed – Right-Arm Spinner

 .  Vishwanath Jadhav – All-rounder– Right-Handed - Right Arm Fast

In the under-19 category, Vedant Mayekar (18-year-old) and Harish Parmar (19-year-old), both from the west zone were added to the Chennai Singams squad.

.   Vedant Mayekar - Right-Handed – All rounder – Right-Arm Fast

.   Harish Parmar - Right-Handed – All rounder – Right Arm Fast

The six teams who are part of ISPL - are Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Srinagar and Chennai.