Star-studded auction pool awaits as Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 returns

Manish Pandey, Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinav Manohar, and Chethan LR will be in the spotlight as the Player Auction for the fourth season of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 takes place on Tuesday in Bengaluru. Last season’s runners-up, Hubli Tigers, head into the auction with the highest remaining purse of INR 41.50 lakhs, while Gulbarga Mystics have the lowest at INR 24.05 lakhs. Franchises will be weighing their strategies carefully as they look to complete their squads ahead of the new season. 

Category A includes India and IPL cricketers and will feature some of the most in-demand names in the auction pool. Abhinav Manohar was the second highest run-scorer last season, lighting up the Chinnaswamy Stadium with 502 runs at an average of 84.50. Manish Pandey, who led the Hubli Tigers to the title in Season 2 and to a play-off finish last year, returns to the pool. Devdutt Padikkal, who turned out for the Gulbarga Mystics last year and played a key role in their play-off run, will also be one to watch. Also in Category A are Shreyas Gopal and K Gowtham, who was integral to the Mysore Warriors' title run last year, claiming 14 wickets with his off-spin and contributing valuable experience. 

Category B will house Chethan LR, who was the most expensive pick in last year’s auction at INR 8.60 lakhs, is expected to draw attention once again. The flamboyant opener was among the top scorers last season, tallying 429 runs in 11 innings for the Bengaluru Blasters. Also in this category is Vidyadhar Patil, who finished as the second highest wicket-taker last year with 16 wickets for the Mysore Warriors. KV Siddharth and Nikin Jose, both of whom were among the top batters for the Mangaluru Dragons, return to the pool as proven performers. Other exciting prospects in Category B include top-order batters Rohan Patil, Aneesh KV and Mohd. Taha, as well as pacer Darshan MB 

Category C, designated for junior state players, will see the return of Kumar LR, who topped the wicket charts last season with 17 wickets. Joining him in this category are India U19 fast bowler Samarth Nagaraj, Samit Dravid, wicketkeeper-batter Harshil Dharmani, and Melu Kranthi Kumar, who scalped 14 wickets for the Bengaluru Blasters last season while maintaining an impressive economy rate of 7.40. 

Meanwhile, Category D will be reserved for all other registered players of the KSCA. This group includes Lavish Kaushal, who impressed last year by finishing as the second highest wicket-taker with 16 wickets for the Bengaluru Blasters, playing a key role in their run to the final. 

Each team is permitted a purse of INR 50.00 lakhs for the auction. After exercising their right to retain four players each, the Hubli Tigers enter the auction with the largest purse of INR 41.50 lakhs. They are followed by the Mangaluru Dragons with INR 37.70 lakhs, Mysore Warriors with INR 36.50 lakhs, Shivamogga Lions with INR 30.80 lakhs, Bengaluru Blasters with INR 28.40 lakhs, and Gulbarga Mystics with INR 24.05 lakhs. 

The auction can be streamed live on FanCode.

Retained Players

Mysuru Warriors: Karun Nair (INR 6.8L), Prasidh Krishna (INR 2L), Karthik S U (INR 0.5L), Karthik CA (INR 4.2L) 

Bengaluru Blasters: Mayank Agarawal (INR 14L), Shubhang Hegde (INR 4.3L), Suraj Ahuja (INR 1L), Naveen MG (INR 2.3L) 

Hubli Tigers: Manvanth Kumar L (INR 1L), Shrijith KL (INR 2.1L), Cariappa KC (INR 4.2L), Karthikeya KP (INR 1.2L) 

Gulbarga Mystics: Luvnith Sisodia (INR 7.2L), Pravin Dubey (INR 6.8L), Vyshak V (INR 8.8L), Smaran R (INR 3.15L) 

Shivamogga Lions: Koushik V (INR 5.9L), Nihal Ullal (INR 2.1L), Hardik Raj (INR 5.8L), Avinash D (INR 5.4L) 

Mangaluru Dragons: Abhilash Shetty (INR 6.3L), Macneil Hadley Noronha (INR 5L), Paras Gurbax Arya (INR 0.5L), Lochan S Gowda (INR 0.5L)