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 finalised the top eight teams as the ultimate face off in the inaugural edition of the nation-wide Esports league is set to begin on August 16. State ministers from seven regions launched their respective franchise team names, logos, and jerseys.

While the Esports industry has been in quest to gain legitimacy and recognition from the government, involvement and acceptance from the government at this level to the tournament is a giant stride for Esports industry in India.

Mr. Vishwalok Nath, Director, ESPL, said, “To have the best gamers from across the country representing final eight franchise teams as well as their team’s official jersey being unveiled 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.”

Here is the complete 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 franchises 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 were 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 June 16, will see the athletes competing in the popular battle royale game Free Fire as the winners will have INR 25 lacs prize money to win.

This final phase has 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.