Cuttack, Sep 12 (IANS) The inaugural edition of the Odisha Pro T20 League (OPTL) will now be held from September 17 to September 26, 2025, at the iconic Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. The announcement of the revised dates was made today by the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA). The league, featuring six franchises, will culminate with the grand finale on September 26.

The six franchises competing for the inaugural title are Cuttack Panthers, Sambalpur Warriors, Puri Titans, Bhubaneshwar Tigers, Keonjhar Miners, and Rourkela Steelers. Earlier this week, the captains and coaches of each franchise were announced through a draw system conducted by the OCA.

The player draft for the first edition was held today in the presence of top OCA officials, including President Shri Pankaj Lochan Mohanty, Secretary Mr. Sanjay Behera, Joint Secretary Mr. Prabhat Bhol, and Treasurer Mr. Bikash Pradhan. Franchise owners and OCA members were also present. Smt. Subhashree Behera, owner of the Cuttack Panthers, was among those who attended the event. Shri Asirbad Behera, Secretary of the Football Association of Odisha and Chairman of the Odisha Athletic Association, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.

During the draft, 16 players were picked by each franchise, with the option of adding two more before the tournament begins. The categories of player fees were also confirmed: Marquee – ₹1,25,000; Category A – ₹1,00,000; Category B – ₹75,000; Category C – ₹50,000; and Category D – ₹40,000.

Speaking at the event, OCA Secretary Sanjay Behera said, “The Odisha Pro T20 League marks a transformative step in the journey of cricket in our state. With top-tier talent and professional execution, we are confident this league will become a major force in Indian domestic cricket. We wish all the players and the franchises the best of luck and hope that everyone brings their best sportsman spirit, talent, and showcases the depth of cricketing talent in Odisha.”

To ensure smooth execution, OCA has partnered with Arivaa Sports as the exclusive management partner. Arivaa Sports has experience in successfully running similar franchise leagues in Bengal, Vidarbha, and Saurashtra.

Franchise Squads:

Cuttack Panthers

Head Coach: Pravanjan Mullick | Assistant Coach: Bibhudat Panda | Captain: Swastik Samal

Squad: Swastik Samal (Marquee Player), Biplab Samantray, Abhishek Raut, Harshit Rathod, Subham Satrujit, Tapas Kumar Das, Panakala Sasanka, Dinesh Kumar Majhi, Md Sohail Khan, Prashant Rana, Swayam Routray, Raj Yadav, Anurag Mallick, Sibun Nanda, Vagesh Sharma, Abhishek Champati.

Sambalpur Warriors

Head Coach: RR Das | Assistant Coach: Sushil Kumar Mishra | Captain: Subhranshu Senapati

Squad: Subhranshu Senapati (Marquee Player), Prayash Kumar Singh, Shreyansh Bharadwaj, Tarini Sa, Rakesh Pattnaik, Pravin Luha, Ayush K Barik, Vimal Kumar, Sumit Sharma, Swayam Srivastav, Manas Ranjan Patra, Hemant Kumar Rathi, Priyanshu Mohanty, Sarthak S Prakash, Aditya Rout, Rama Chandra Behera.

Puri Titans

Head Coach: Saurabh Sehgal | Assistant Coach: Deepak Mangaraj | Captain: Sandeep Pattnaik

Squad: Sandeep Pattnaik (Marquee Player), Rajesh Mohanty, Kartik Biswal, Ashutosh Chhuria, Anurag Sarangi, Sawan Paharia, Sushil Kumar Barik, Udaya Jata, Surya Mohapatra, Shantanu Mishra, Aditya K Jaysingh, Rudra Prasad Mallick, Piyush Ranjan Mantri, Ayush Sutar, Saransh Kumar, Md Danish.

Bhubaneshwar Tigers

Head Coach: Preetamjeet Das | Assistant Coach: KV Prasad | Captain: Suryakant Pradhan

Squad: Suryakant Pradhan (Marquee Player), Rajesh Dhupar, Gourav Choudhry, Debabrata Pradhan, Badal Biswal, Aryashree D Bhatta, Satyakam Bharadwaj, Bivash Shaw, Sambit Kumar Beja, Subham Priyadarshi, Ansuman Bej, Prayan Prantik Samal, Abhineet K Pattnaik, Swagat S Mishra, Bikram Samal, Md Azharuddin.

Keonjhar Miners

Head Coach: Sanjay Satapathy | Assistant Coach: Shovan Deb | Captain: Govinda Poddar

Squad: Govinda Poddar (Marquee Player), Abhishek Yadav, Om T Munde, Sarbeswar Mohanty, Anil Parida, Sujal Singh, Sayed Tuffel Ahmed, Debabrata Pradhan Jr, Soubhagya Ojha, Abhishek Singh, Panakala Mokshit, Sreeraj Pattnaik, Biswa Baibhab Muduli, Biswa Bhusan Bihari, Soumya Ranjan Lenka, Papu Roy.

Rourkela Steelers

Head Coach: Subit Biswal | Assistant Coach: Prabhat Kumar Nayak | Captain: Aashirbad Swain

Squad: Aashirbad Swain (Marquee Player), Sambit S Barala, Saideep Mohapatra, Pradeep Pradhan, Jamela Mohapatra, Ashutosh Marandi, Binayak Sahoo, Shovandeb Behera, Sambit Kumar Sahoo, Milan Samal, Swoop Samit Bhuyan, Biswajit Pradhan, Priya Ranjan Muduli, Akash Mohapatra, Amin Iqbal Khan, Saswat Mohanty.

–IANS

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