Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20: Costliest players at auction, full squads

Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 has returned for its second edition as over 700 players from Karnataka went under the hammer on Saturday (July 22) for the player auction at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Six franchises, including the two new teams in Mangalore Dragons and Shivamogga Lions along with defending champions Gulbarga Mystics, last year’s runners-up Bengaluru Blasters, Mysore Warriors and Hubli Tigers battled it out for the state’s finest players with the hope of building a team that would help them attain the coveted Maharaja Trophy.

All six franchises demonstrated a clear emphasis on top-order batting with the day’s most expensive players being Abhinav Manohar, Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey.

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Abhinav Manohar costliest buy

Abhinav Manohar went to the Shivamogga Lions for Rs 15 lakh, while ace opener Mayank Agarwal will don the Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters jersey for yet another campaign at a price of Rs 14 lakh. The left-handed big-hitter Devdutt Padikkal was purchased by the Gulbarga Mystics for Rs 13.2 lakh and the experienced Manish Pandey’s services were sought by the Hubli Tigers for Rs 10.6 lakh.

The auction proved to be an enthralling affair, keeping the franchises and the viewers on the edge of their seats. Over 700 cricketers from across the state were slotted in four categories based on their credentials.

In Category A, the Lions also secured the services of all-rounder Shreyas Gopal for Rs 7.8 lakh. Last year’s champions, Gulbarga Mystics purchased pacer Vyshakh Vijaykumar (Rs 8.8 lakh) and veteran spinner Appanna KP for Rs 4 lakh. The Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters secured the fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun for Rs 5.2 lakh.

Hubli Tigers also bought the leggie KC Cariappa for Rs 7.2 lakh and all-rounder Pravin Dubey for Rs 5.8 lakh. Ace all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham went to Mangaluru Dragons for Rs 6.6 lakh along with speedster Ronit More for Rs 4.6 lakh. Mysore Warriors also secured the left-arm spinner, J Suchit for Rs 8.4 lakh, fast bowler Prasidh M Krishna for Rs 7.4 lakh while veteran batter Karun Nair returned to them for Rs 6.8 lakh.

Highlights from Category B included all-rounder Manoj S Bhandage going back to the Mysore Warriors for Rs 9 lakh, wicketkeeper Luvnith Sisodiaa and pacer Vidhyadhar Patil were bought by Bengaluru Blasters for Rs 7.1 lakh and Rs 7 lakh respectively. While the explosive Nikin Jose went to Mangaluru Dragons for Rs 7 lakh. Hard-hitter Chetan LR was bagged by Gulbarga Mystics for Rs 6.2 lakh.

The tournament, hosted by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), kicks off on August 13, with the final scheduled for August 29.

Maharaja Trophy will be broadcast live on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports Kannada, while the FanCode app will serve as the digital streaming partner.

Full squads for Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 tournament

Gulbarga Mystics: Devdutt Padikkal, Appana KP, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Sharath Srinivas, Chethan LR, Mohammed Aqib Jawad, Smaran R, Aneesh KV, Macneil Noronha, Sharan Goud, Abhilash Shetty, Hardik Raj, Shimon Luiz, Avinash D, Yashovardhan Parantap, Aadarsh Prajwal, Abul Hasan Khalid and Shaun Tristan Joseph.

Hubli Tigers: KC Cariappa, Pravin Dubey, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Shrijith KL, Mohammed Taha, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Darshan MB, Shivam MB, Naga Bharath, Santokh Singh, Mohith BA, Manvanth Kumar L, Mitrakant Singh Yadav, Malliksab G, Nathan D’mello, Rakshekar Harikant and Clement Raju.

Shivamogga Lions: Abhinav Manohar, Shreyas Gopal, Nihal Ullal, Koushik V, Sharath HS, Kranthi Kumar, Rohan Kadam, Shreyas Puranik, Pranav Bhatia, Vinay Sagar, Aditya Somanna, Adhoksh Hegde, Pavan Shridi, Rohan Naveen, Shivaraj, Rohit Kumar K, Nischith Rao and Deepak Devadiga.

Mysore Warriors: Karun Nair, Suchith J, Prasidh Krishna, Shoaib Manager, Samarth R, Karthik CA, Manoj Bhandage, Venkatesh M, Tushar Singh, Kushal Wadhwani, Shashi Kumar K, Rakshith S, Shreesha S Achar, Monish Reddy, Aditya Mani, Gautam Mishra, Rahul Singh Rawat and Bharath Dhuri.

Bengaluru Blasters: Mithun A, Mayank Agarwal, Pradeep T, Mohammed Sarfaraz Ashraf, Pavan Deshpande, Shubhang Hegde, Nishchal D, Vidyadhar Patil, Jeshwanth Acharya, Jasper EJ, Kumar LR, Mohsin Khan, Aashish Mahesh, Rishi Bopanna, Suraj Ahuja, Aaron Christie, Abhishek Ahlawat, and Aman Khan.

Mangaluru Dragons: Ronit More, Krishnappa Gowtham, Siddharth KV, Nikin Jose, Sharath BR, Prateek Jain, Anirudha Joshi, Rohan Patil, Gaurav Dhiman, Shivakumar BU, Thippa Reddy, Aaditya Nair, Aditya Goyal, Anand Doddmani, Kruthik Krishna, Naveen MG, Dheeraj J Gowda, and Aneeshwar Gautam.