The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) hopes to resume cricket activities in the state next month with the inaugural KCA Presidents Cup T20 tournament subject to government clearance.

S D College cricket ground at Alappuzha will be the venue for the tournament to be played from December 17, 2020, to January 3, 2021.

Pacer S Sreesanth, whose seven-year ban for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scam ended in September, will make his comeback in the tournament. The 37-year-old has been named in the KCA Tigers squad led by Sachin Baby.

Basil Thampi, Rohan Prem, Midhun S and Asif K M are the other top players who will part of the event.

S Sreesanth
S Sreesanth. File photo

The tournament will have six teams in the fray. They are KCA Royals, KCA Tigers, KCA Tuskers, KCA Eagles, KCA Panthers and KCA Lions. There will be no franchisees or owners. Each team consists of 14 players and two support staff. There will also be four players “on-call” for each team, if replacements are required.

The tournament format will have each team playing against the other twice with the top-four qualifying for the semifinals. A total of 33 matches will be played during the 18-day competition. There will be two matches per day. The white-ball tournament will have teams wearing coloured jerseys.

All players, support staff and concerned officials shall be brought under a bio-secure environment to minimise the risk of coronavirus infection through external contact. Strict adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols will be ensured.

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