Siechem Madurai Panthers

Siechem Madurai Panthers is a franchise cricket team that plays in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. One of the eight teams in the league, Panthers are based on the city of Madurai. Formerly known as called Madurai Super Giant in the first two editions of the league, the team is currently being coached by J Arunkumar.

The team is the least successful teams in the history of TNPL, having lost 13 of its last 14 matches. Under the mentorship of their new coach, Panthers would be hoping to turn things around in the 2018 edition of TNPL.

Background

Siechem Madurai Panthers was owned by Pooja Damodaran, who bought the team in 2016. The team has new owners in Siechem Technologies Pvt. Ltd and has hence been named as Siechem Madurai Panthers. Wicketkeeper-batsman Arun Karthik has been leading the team since the inaugural edition of the league and would command the reigns in the upcoming season as well.

The team was coached by Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan in the previous season, who is a former Chennai Super Kings opener. J. Arun Kumar, who has filled the shoes of Sivaramakrishnan, was the batting coach of Kings XI Punjab in the 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League.

Career Trajectory of the club

The team failed to win a single match in the inaugural edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League. They showed some flare in the first three matches, which were lost by a margin of a few runs. However, with three lost matches behind them, the team crumpled under pressure and failed to make a mark in the rest of the matches.

They began the following season with nine changes in the team along with a new head coach, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan. The first match saw them being defeated by Chepauk Super Gillies, who won the match by five wickets with an over to spare. The rest of the matches provided a similar result as the team seemed to be carrying the baggage of disastrous performance in 2016. Although the team’s captain Arun Karthik continued to deliver with the bat, the team failed to capitalize on strong starts on multiple occasions and ended up losing all its matches.