VECL Chennai · Season 1Franchise T20 comes to Chennai.
Get selected. Get drafted. Play a full season for one of four Chennai clubs — Sundays, 10 January to 25 April 2027.
Registrations close 22 November 2026. Registering does not guarantee a place.
- Franchise T20
- 4 clubs
- 8 bands
- Girls & women
- Streamed live
- Melbourne ↔ Chennai
Sundays, January to April.
A season, not a weekend. Players register, attend a team selection day, and those selected are drafted into one of four Chennai clubs for a full season of franchise T20 — scored live, streamed, and finished with an awards ceremony.
- 22 NovRegistrations closeBands without enough players are merged upward or held over.
- 6 & 13 DecTeam selection daysBoth Sundays. A third, on 20 December, only if it is needed.
- 26 DecOffers go outTo selected players, after the panel sits.
- 5 JanSquads finalThe draft is complete and every club's squads are set.
- 10 JanRound 1The first Sunday of Season 1.
- 18 & 25 AprFinalsWith the awards ceremony on grand final day.
- U12
- U14
- U16
- U18
- Senior
Senior is adult cricket — this is not a junior-only league. Each open band needs 60 registrations to run.
- Girls U14
- Girls U18
- Women
Not a few places in a boys' team. Each girls' band needs 30 registrations. A band that falls short is merged upward or held over.
- Where
- Chennai — the ground will be announced once it is signed.
- Match days
- Sundays. Play starts between 8am and 10am and runs through to about 6.30pm.
- Awards
- An awards ceremony on grand final day. Every age band has its own top batter, top bowler and top fielder or wicket-keeper. The awards themselves are still being decided.
- To register
- ₹250 per player, by UPI or card in the Elite app. Not refundable, and it does not guarantee a place.
Four clubs.
One city.
Each named for a south Chennai neighbourhood, each fielding a squad in every age band that runs — and part of the same league as the three Melbourne franchises.
Chennai · India Season 1 from 10 January 2027
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Sholinganallur FalconsSholinganallur · OMR corridor -
Medavakkam EaglesMedavakkam · home of the Elite academy -
Velachery WarriorsVelachery -
Perungudi PanthersPerungudi
Players are drafted, not signed. After the selection days the panel drafts players across the four clubs, band by band, so that no club is stacked. Families do not choose a club, and we do not take requests. A player keeps their club for the whole season.
More about the clubs and the draft →Three steps. A couple of minutes.
- 01Register
Open the Elite app, choose the VECL tile and VECL Chennai, tell us about the player and pick 6 or 13 December as their selection day.
- 02Pay ₹250
By UPI or card, in the same step. The fee is not refundable, including if the player is not selected, and it does not guarantee a place.
- 03Selection day
Bat, bowl and field in front of the selection panel on your Sunday. Offers go out from 26 December, and you confirm a place in the app.
Chennai × Melbourne
Chennai is not a separate competition that borrowed the name. It is the same league, and the road runs in both directions.
Melbourne selectors, here in December
Two selectors from the Melbourne league travel to Chennai to sit on the selection panel alongside our head coach. The people who pick Melbourne squads will watch players bat and bowl in person.
Places at VECL Melbourne, December 2027
We intend to select two players from every age band in Season 1 — 10 to 15 players in all — to travel to Melbourne and play in the December 2027 tournament.
Every band, not just the oldest
Two players from each band that runs, the girls' and women's bands included. Bands that do not run in Season 1 send nobody, which is why the number is 10 to 15 rather than 16.
What that trip costs a family
- The league pays
- Accommodation in Melbourne, all match and tournament fees, and an Elite staff member who travels with the players and is responsible for them for the whole trip.
- The family pays
- The player's flights, their visa, and personal spending money. Nothing else.
- Worth knowing
- Travel depends on an Australian visa being granted, which is decided by the Australian government and not by us. We will help with the paperwork; we cannot promise the outcome.
This is our intention, not a guarantee. The places are confirmed once Season 1 is under way and we have seen the standard. Registering for team selection does not entitle a player to a place in Chennai, and being selected in Chennai does not entitle anyone to one of these places.
The record so far
VECL tournaments · as at October 2026
- 500+Players
- 200+Matches on turf
- 30,000+Runs scored
- 2Countries
What a selected player gets.
The same format, the same live scoring and the same selection discipline as the Melbourne league.
- Every match streamedLive on YouTube and Facebook, and the recordings stay up — so family anywhere can watch, and an innings is something a player can send on.
- Scored ball by ballEvery match is scored live in the VECL app, built on CricHeroes, so a season's figures land on the player's own CricHeroes profile.
- A full seasonSundays from January to April for the club they are drafted into — not a one-weekend tournament.
- Run properlyThe league's directors lead its administration, with around twelve administrators beneath them, a head coach for every franchise, specialist coaches, umpires, scorers and curators — and more than 50 staff at every tournament.
- A real academy behind itElite Cricket Academy runs the league in Chennai from its academy in Medavakkam.
Before you register
What does it cost?
₹250 per player to register and book a team selection day, paid by UPI or card when you submit the form. That is what registering costs.
Does paying the ₹250 mean my child is in the team?
No. It books their place at a team selection day and puts them in front of the selectors — it does not buy a squad place. Teams are picked at the selection days, and the panel's decision is final.
Is this only for boys? Only for juniors?
Neither. The open bands run from Under 12 to Senior, so there is adult cricket here as well as junior. And girls have three bands of their own — Girls U14, Girls U18 and Women — rather than a few places in a boys' team.
Can we choose which club my child plays for?
No. Players are drafted across the four clubs by the selection panel, band by band, so that no club is stacked. We do not take requests, and a player keeps their club for the whole season.
Is the fee refundable?
No. The ₹250 is not refundable, including if the player is not selected. It pays for the selection day itself — the ground, the officials and the panel's time — which happens whether or not a place follows.
Chennai enquiries
Questions about Season 1 go to the Elite academy in Medavakkam.
Ready to play Season 1?
Register the player now — ₹250, a couple of minutes — and their team selection day is booked in the same step.