Vijayawada: The Indian Premier League (IPL) has franchisees from several states but Andhra Pradesh has no team in the men's Twenty20 (T20) cricket league. But, that is going to change soon. The chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has decided to give a fillip to sports and
directed the concerned officials to groom cricketers so the Telugu state can be represented in the IPL tournament.

Last month the chief minister had directed the officials to establish cricket academies and seek the assistance of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to develop the sport in the state.

“Taking inspiration from Ambati Rayudu and K S Bharat, we shall groom more cricketers. In the beginning, we will hand over the coaching responsibilities to CSK at three stadiums and in the future we shall seek the cooperation of the Mumbai Indians team also,” the chief minister was quoted as saying in the release.

The chief minister YS Jagan has stated that Andhra Pradesh has a potential to form its own franchise for the IPL. He said the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) would extend necessary guidance and access to infrastructure to the interested local entrepreneurs to put together a franchise for the IPL tournament.

Notably, the state has successfully conducted the Andhra Premier League (APL). The APL is being hosted by the ACA to identify young talent and groom the young players so they can represent the state in the national games.

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