iDream Karaikudi Kaalai

The iDream Karaikudi Kaalai is a cricket team based in Karaikudi City and plays in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. They are one of the fairly successful teams of the league, managing a third place finish during the group stages in 2017, while just missing out on a playoff finish in 2016.

This year they are going to be led by Dinesh Karthik, who arrives after guiding his Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders to a third place finish. However, he won’t be available for the first few matches as he is a part of India’s limited overs side in the Tour of England. Karthik previously played for Tuti Patriots in the TNPL and guided them to victory in 2016 and final in 2017.

Background

The franchise is owned by iDream Cinemas and iDream Properties of Chennai. iDream Cinemas recently dipped their toes in field of real estate, and the subsidiary is called the iDream Properties. The ownership of the franchise was changed just before the start of the 2018 edition. Previously, they were owned by the Chettinad Group and were known as Karaikudi Kaalai.

Subramaniam Badrinath is set make his coaching debut with the Karaikudi franchise. Karaikudi have also managed to retain the services of Anirudha Srikkanth, while roping in former Mumbai Indians batsman Unmukt Chand.

Prominent Achievements

In the inaugural edition of 2016, they barely finished out of the playoff places being level on points but only not making it because of net run rate. They were led by Subramaniam Badrinath and were coached by Robin Singh. They had an average start to the 2016 edition, and were placed in the lower echelons of the table. However, as the tournament progressed they figured their game out and gained momentum.

The 2017 edition was more successful for the Karaikudi Kaalai. Akin to the previous edition they had Badrinath and Robin Singh leading them. They successfully made it to the playoff places and were placed third before the eliminator. They were knocked out in the eliminator match as the Lyca Kovai Kings successfully chased their total of 194 with an over remaining.

Career Trajectory of the Team

They had a really poor start to the inaugural edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League, losing a couple of matches in succession. However, they performed better in the second edition but were unlucky to be trounced by a superb batting on the part of the Lyca Kovai Kings.

They will be looking to make an even better impact this season, having roped in one of the captains participating in the final of previous edition. They also have talented players on their books like Srikkanth, Chand etc and will be looking to make the most out of their vast bowling line up.