{"id":11965,"date":"2026-08-30T15:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T15:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/?p=11965"},"modified":"2026-08-30T15:34:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T15:34:30","slug":"sher-e-punjab-t20-league-begins-in-mohali-as-mann-pitches-sports-as-punjabs-new-weapon-against-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/?p=11965","title":{"rendered":"Sher-e-Punjab T20 League Begins in Mohali as Mann Pitches Sports as Punjab\u2019s New Weapon Against Drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Punjab has taken a major step towards building a stronger cricketing ecosystem at home with the launch of the state\u2019s first franchise-based Sher-e-Punjab T20 Cricket League, which Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann inaugurated at the PCA Cricket Stadium in Mohali on Sunday.

The tournament, organised by the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), brings together six franchise teams and will run until September 13, giving emerging players from across the state an opportunity to compete in a professional T20 environment alongside established names in Punjab cricket.

Mann described the league as an important investment in the future of the state’s sporting talent, saying Punjab had historically produced some of India’s finest cricketers but now needed stronger domestic platforms to ensure the next generation could follow in their footsteps.

The inaugural match was played between Amritsar Soormas and Mohali Kings, marking the beginning of a two-week competition that will culminate in the final on September 13. All matches of the inaugural edition are being played at the PCA Cricket Stadium in Mohali.

Addressing players and organisers at the launch, Mann said the league had been conceived to provide talented cricketers with exposure to high-level competition and an opportunity to learn from established players.

He compared the structure of the tournament with the Indian Premier League, while emphasising that its primary purpose was to create a pathway for Punjab’s emerging cricketers.

For a state with a long and distinguished cricketing tradition, the league represents an attempt to strengthen the bridge between grassroots cricket and the professional game.

Punjab’s cricketing legacy meets a new generation

Punjab has produced a remarkable list of cricketers who have represented India, including Lala Amarnath, Bishan Singh Bedi, Mohinder Amarnath, Yashpal Sharma and Yuvraj Singh.

Mann highlighted the continuing presence of Punjab-born players at the highest levels of Indian cricket. He pointed to Shubman Gill and Harmanpreet Kaur as examples of the state’s contribution to both men’s and women’s cricket.

According to the Chief Minister, 21 players from Punjab are currently part of the IPL ecosystem, underlining the depth of cricketing talent emerging from the state.

He also highlighted the presence of Punjab players in the Indian men’s side, citing Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh and Gurnoor Brar.

The Sher-e-Punjab League is intended to build on that talent pool by giving players who may not yet have reached the national or IPL stage a competitive platform on which they can develop their skills and attract wider attention.

The player pool itself illustrates the scale of the exercise. More than 450 cricketers from Punjab were part of the selection process, with 119 ultimately picked through the auction to represent the six franchises.

Six teams, six Punjab cricket identities

The inaugural tournament features six franchise teams, each led by a prominent Punjab cricketer.

Fazilka Falcons will be captained by Shubman Gill, while Arshdeep Singh will lead Ludhiana Lions. Abhishek Sharma will captain Amritsar Soormas, Prabhsimran Singh will lead Jalandhar Warriors, Ramandeep Singh will captain Mohali Kings and Gurnoor Brar will lead Bathinda Royals.

The franchises also feature a wider group of recognised Punjab players, including Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Naman Dhir, Vihaan Malhotra, Imanjot Singh Chahal, Ashwani Kumar and Krish Bhagat.

The format is designed to give these players sustained exposure to competitive T20 cricket while creating opportunities for less-established names to share dressing rooms and playing conditions with players who have already competed at higher levels.

For the PCA, the league also provides an opportunity to create a more structured domestic product around Punjab cricket.

Mann links sports with Punjab’s anti-drug campaign

The Chief Minister used the launch to connect the state’s sporting ambitions with one of the government’s biggest social campaigns \u2014 its fight against drug abuse.

Mann described sport as one of the most powerful tools available to the state to keep young people away from drugs and give them constructive avenues for their energy and ambitions.

His argument is based on a broader government strategy of expanding sporting opportunities at the grassroots level. The state says it is developing around 3,100 playgrounds across Punjab and has made its largest-ever budgetary allocation for sports.

The government believes that better sporting facilities, regular competitions and access to professional coaching can help create alternatives for young people, particularly in communities where unemployment, drug abuse and lack of recreational infrastructure remain concerns.

The challenge, however, will be to ensure that investment in sports reaches beyond major stadiums and established cricket centres.

A successful sporting policy requires functioning grounds at village level, qualified coaches, equipment, access for girls and boys, regular competitions and pathways through which talented players can progress to district, state and national levels.

The new T20 league is one component of that larger sporting infrastructure.

Khedan Watan Punjab Dian returns

Mann also announced that the government’s flagship multi-sport initiative, Khedan Watan Punjab Dian, would begin its next major phase from Bathinda on September 5.

The Chief Minister said the event would bring together participants from three generations, presenting sport as a community activity rather than merely a pathway for elite athletes.

The government sees such events as a way of developing a wider sporting culture across Punjab and encouraging families and young people to participate in organised physical activity.

The combination of grassroots playgrounds, mass sporting events and professional competitions such as the Sher-e-Punjab T20 League represents the government’s broader attempt to create a sports pipeline in the state.

A test beyond the inaugural season

The immediate success of the Sher-e-Punjab League will be measured by the quality of its matches and the response of cricket supporters. Its longer-term value, however, will depend on what happens after the first season.

For emerging players, the real benefit will come if performances in the tournament translate into opportunities in higher-level domestic cricket, the IPL and eventually national teams.

The league could also provide Punjab’s cricket administrators with a mechanism for identifying talent that might otherwise remain outside the conventional scouting system.

But sustaining such a competition will require consistent investment, strong administration, professional broadcasting and commercial support, as well as a credible pathway for players beyond the tournament itself.

For Punjab, the ambition is larger than staging another T20 competition.

The state wants to convert its historic reputation for producing exceptional cricketers into a modern development system capable of producing them consistently.

The presence of established stars such as Shubman Gill, Arshdeep Singh and Abhishek Sharma gives the inaugural edition considerable visibility. The more important legacy, however, may lie with the young players who enter the competition largely unknown and emerge with the confidence, experience and exposure required to take the next step.

At a time when Punjab is seeking new ways to engage its young population, the Sher-e-Punjab T20 League is being presented not simply as entertainment but as part of a larger social and sporting project.

If the model succeeds, Mohali could become more than the venue for the state’s new T20 league. It could become the centre of a pathway designed to take Punjab’s next generation of cricketers from local grounds to the biggest stages of Indian cricket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Punjab has taken a major step towards building a stronger cricketing ecosystem at home with the launch of the state\u2019s first franchise-based Sher-e-Punjab T20 Cricket League, which Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann inaugurated at the PCA Cricket Stadium in Mohali on Sunday. The tournament, organised by the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), brings together six franchise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"category-punjab-2"},"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535.jpg",720,898,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-241x300.jpg",241,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535.jpg",696,868,false],"large":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535.jpg",696,868,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535.jpg",720,898,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535.jpg",720,898,false],"td_150x0":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-150x187.jpg",150,187,true],"td_218x150":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-218x150.jpg",218,150,true],"td_300x0":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-300x374.jpg",300,374,true],"td_324x400":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-324x400.jpg",324,400,true],"td_485x360":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-485x360.jpg",485,360,true],"td_696x0":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-696x868.jpg",696,868,true],"td_1068x0":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535.jpg",720,898,false],"td_1920x0":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535.jpg",720,898,false],"td_265x198":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-265x198.jpg",265,198,true],"td_741x486":["https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/img_20260830_2102492674300549790106535-720x486.jpg",720,486,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Praveen Soni","author_link":"https:\/\/jeevaypunjab.com\/?author=2"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Punjab has taken a major step towards building a stronger cricketing ecosystem at home with the launch of the state\u2019s first franchise-based Sher-e-Punjab T20 Cricket League, which Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann inaugurated at the PCA Cricket Stadium in Mohali on Sunday. 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