Super Gillies looks to start title defence on a high

Chennai will host only four of the 32 games in the third edition: three in the league phase –all featuring the Gillies – and the final on August 12. With three of its seven leagues games played at Chepauk, the Chidambaram Stadium is akin to home for the Gillies, which has been a top team in the competition.

Coached by Hemang Badani, the former India cricketer, the side finished runner-up to Tuti Patriots in the inaugural season before winning it in the following season. Impressively, Gillies has only lost five matches across two seasons – only to Tuti Patriots and Lyca Kovai Kings.

While the current outfit is largely different from the squad of the first two seasons following a fresh Player draft on May 31, the Gillies has got a balanced team with the likes of batsmen KH Gopinath, GS Raju and leg-spinner M Ashwin.

However, talented all-rounder Vijay Shankar will miss the first few matches as he is away in England with India A. “A lot of planning is a part of the process but it all boils down to the execution on the pitch. If we can deliver about 50% of the pre-match plans, we will end up winning on most occasions,” Gillies’ high performance analyst Lakshmi Narayanan said.

Ruby Trichy Warriors, meanwhile, will look to build on the momentum of its spectacular win over Dindigul Dragons in the tournament opener. S Suresh Kumar pulled off a heist along with Sonu Yadav in a high-scoring game that saw the Warriors win on the penultimate ball that Kumar lashed for a six.