Mumbai T20 League: Franchises back young players to come good

Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has jumped into the T20 bandwagon by announcing the league in the shortest format of their own. While the likes of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, the two Mumbai superstars, were expected grab a lot of attention during the auctions for the inaugural edition of Mumbai T20 League, the actual tussle between the teams was to snap up the youngsters in the city. However, the budding cricketers of Mumbai have a great opportunity to showcase their skills in the tournament.

Rohit Sharma won’t be available for the tournament this year as he will be Sri Lanka leading India in the Nidahas Trophy. Mumbai T20 League will commence on March 11 and the final of the competition will be played on March 21. If his team qualifies for the title clash then there is every possibility of the marquee player featuring in that game. Rahane is expected to play the game as he is not involved in any sort of cricketing action during that period.

Jay Bista – the most sought-after player

The franchises came into the auction after minutely studying the credentials of every player as they went aggressively for some of the cricketers. Fervent bidding took place for the young players like Jay Bista (Rs 5 lakh), Shivam Dubey (Rs 5 lakh), Shashank Singh (Rs 5 lakh), Eknath Kerkar (Rs 4 lakh), Sagar Trivedi (Rs 3.4 lakh), Sairaj Patil (Rs 3.4 lakh), Hardik Tamore (Rs 3.4 lakh) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 3 lakh).

However, Jay Bista, the aggressive player at the top of the order, was the most sought-after player as there was a five-way tie for him and he was alloted the team via a draw of lots. Also, four teams expressed their interest in Shivam Dubey and Shashank Singh. “I am happy at the interest teams showed in me. It is an important tournament that will help us showcase our skills to a wider audience. If we succeed, we could make it to IPL teams in the future,” the 24-year-old all-rounder told Times of India.

Dubey will play for Mumbai South Central this year as the charismatic former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli is the mentor of the side.

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