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7 state ministers unveil franchise teams for Esports Premier League 2021

India’s first-ever franchise-based Esports league, the Esports Premier League (ESPL) has finally declared their top eight teams that are to encounter an ultimate face-off in the launch of the inaugural edition. This Esports league is set to kick off on the 16th August. Seven state ministers have revealed their respective franchise team names, logos and jerseys to kick-start the induction of this event.

Though at a nascent stage, the esports  industry has been in a constant quest to gain legitimacy and recognition from the government. Any involvement and acceptance from the government at this level in the tournament is a breakthrough stride for the esports industry in India.

“To have the best gamers from across the country representing the final eight franchise teams as well as unveiling their team’s official jersey by the state ministers, is a matter of absolute honor and pride. Even in its inaugural edition, ESPL has received exceptional response from the esports community, the players, and the audience,” said Vishwalok Nath, Director, ESPL.

Here is the list of ministers and personalities that unveiled teams representing their respective states:

1. Mr. V. Srinivas Goud

Hon’ble Minister of Sports & Youth Services

Govt. Of Telangana

2. Mr. Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar

Hon’ble Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare

Govt. of Maharashtra

3. Mr. Manish Sisodia

Deputy Chief Minister

Govt. of Delhi

4. Mr. Manoj Tiwary

Hon’ble Minister of Department of Youth Services and Sports

Govt. Of West Bengal

5. Mr. K.C. Narayana Gowda

Hon’ble Minister of Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports Department of Planning

Govt. of Karnataka

6. Mr. Ashok Chandna

Hon’ble Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs (Independent charge)

Govt. of Rajasthan

7. Mr. Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi

Hon’ble Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs
Govt. of Punjab

    8. RJ Balaji
Radio jockey, director, sports broadcaster, and writer based out of Chennai

The final eight teams and the players were chosen through a draft process. And the teams that are qualified through various stages of the competition for the draft process include BADGE99, Total Gaming, 4 UNKNOWN, TSM FTX, No Chance, AFF Esports, Head Hunters, and TWO SIDE GAMERS. Each of these teams was picked to represent a city team and in the final stage during the draft, popular influencers and esports gamers were roped in to conduct the process.

The eight franchise teams are Punjab Paladins, Chennai Celestials, Delhi Dukes, Hyderabad Hydras, Kolkata Kaijus, Rajasthan Reapers, Mumbai Marshals, and Bangalore Ballistics. Below is the complete list of players of all these teams who will represent the respective state teams:

BADGEE99 will represent Kolkata Kaijus   ⮚  Hriteek Ranjan ⮚  Muhammed Faizal. N ⮚  Prahast Garg ⮚  Azmal Akhtar Choudhury ⮚  Yogesh Buchale	Total Gaming will represent Hyderabad Hydras   ⮚  Ajay Sharma ⮚  Vora Hetkumar ⮚  Daksh Garg ⮚  Narai Yadav ⮚  Anshul Rawat
4 UNKNOWN will represent Rajasthan Reapers   ⮚  Swastik Madhukar Dushing ⮚  Anand Madhukar Dushing ⮚  Radhe Thakor ⮚  Vadehr Anil Devashibhai ⮚  Mohd Zuber	AFF Esports will represent Delhi Dukes   ⮚  Owais Bhati ⮚  Kanishk Verma ⮚  Rahil Katoch ⮚  Pavan Adwani ⮚  Arpit Tyagi
TWO SIDE GAMERS will represent Bengaluru  Ballistics   ⮚  Ritik Jain ⮚  Ojasvi Kamra ⮚  Vihan Datta ⮚  Bhavesh Lakhwani	No Chance will represent Chennai Celestials   ⮚  Priyansh ⮚  Devesh Chauhan ⮚  Aritra Adak ⮚  Priyanshu Kumar ⮚  Soumya Sundar
TSM FTX will represent Mumbai Marshals   ⮚  Sagar Patel ⮚  Indranil Saha ⮚  Jayesh Yadav ⮚  Naitik Khosto ⮚  Asjad Khateeb	Head Hunters will represent Punjab Paladins   ⮚  Satyam Thakur ⮚  Md. Abdul Moghni ⮚  Aasim Usama ⮚  Jatin Taneja ⮚  Priyanshu Halder Saha

ESPL 2021, which began on 16th June, will see the athletes competing in the popular battle royale game Free Fire as the winners will have 25 lakh prize money to win.

This final phase has a lot more in store and a spectacle series of matches and exciting live-action will be streamed on Disney+ Hotstar, Free Fire official streaming platform Booyah and Malayalam OTT platform Koode alongside official YouTube and Facebook channels of India Today and Aaj Tak and its websites.

About Esports Premier League 2021:

ESPL marks the beginning of an annual, nationwide esports tournament by India Today Group. As one of India’s largest esports tournaments, ESPL is India’s first-ever franchise-based esports league for Free Fire. As the game suggests, India Today Gaming has teamed up with Garena to organize its inaugural edition of the most popular battle royale game, Free Fire from June 16. It is one of the most popular Battle Royale smartphone games in India.

The tournament is taking place for over two and a half months with 88 teams from thousands going to Level 2. ESPL will also invite the top eight professional Free Fire esports teams to the fold. These 96 teams will compete for the final eight slots to represent eight regions across the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and the states of Punjab, and Rajasthan. ESPL has also partnered with Hong Kong-based smartphone giant Infinix Mobile as the Presenting sponsor for the 2021 edition.

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