The Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 auction’s fourth edition saw some intense bidding, with Devdutt Padikkal becoming the most wanted player. The Hubli Tigers got the left-handed batter for a price of ₹13.20 lakh, making him the most expensive player of the day. Abhinav Manohar and Manish Pandey were next, both costing ₹12.20 lakh. Manohar will play with Padikkal at Hubli Tigers, while Pandey will play for the defending champions, Mysuru Warriors.
Shivamogga Lions made a big move among the bowlers, signing fast bowler Vidwath Kaverappa for ₹10.80 lakh. Bengaluru Blasters also improved their bowling, getting Vidyadhar Patil for ₹8.30 lakh, showing they are clearly focusing on strike bowling this season.
The Warriors built a balanced team, mainly focusing on all-rounders. They brought back K Gowtham for ₹4.40 lakh and added to their bowling with left-arm spinner Shikhar Shetty (₹4.70 lakh), fast bowlers Venkatesh M (₹2.00 lakh) and Gowtham Mishra (₹2.25 lakh), and Kumar LR (₹1.50 lakh), who was last season’s joint highest wicket-taker. They also improved their batting lineup with wicketkeeper-batter Harshil Dharmani (₹3.20 lakh) and Yashovardhan Parantap (₹2.00 lakh).
Bengaluru Blasters started slowly, not buying anyone in Category A, but they came back strong. They picked up Chethan LR for ₹5.10 lakh, followed by important additions like Rohan Patil (₹2.70 lakh), spinner Rohan Naveen (₹4.25 lakh), and young player Madhav Prakash Bajaj for ₹3.15 lakh.
Hubli Tigers had the most money entering the auction and built their team aggressively, also adding Mohammad Taha (₹4.60 lakh) and fast bowler Samarth Nagaraj (₹3.20 lakh). Gulbarga Mystics made specific picks, adding KV Siddharth (₹6.10 lakh), fast bowler Monish Reddy (₹4.65 lakh), Lavish Kaushal (₹7.75 lakh), and Nikin Jose (₹1.00 lakh).
Shivamogga Lions invested in youth, getting Aneeshwar Gautam (₹8.20 lakh), along with experienced players Anirudha Joshi (₹3.60 lakh) and Deepak Devadiga (₹1.20 lakh). Mangaluru Dragons started well, signing Shreyas Gopal (₹8.60 lakh), all-rounder Melu Kranthi Kumar (₹5.60 lakh), and fast bowlers Ronit More (₹3.40 lakh) and Abhishek Prabhakar (₹3.07 lakh). Their team also includes Sharath BR, Shivraj S, and keeper Adarsh Prajwal.
Each team will finish their squad with two more players from their local areas.
Maharaja Trophy – Full Squads
Mysore Warriors Squad: Karthik S U* (0.50 lakh), Karthik CA* (4.20 lakh), Prasidh Krishna* (2.00 lakh), Karun Nair* (6.80 lakh), Manish Pandey (12.20 lakh), Gowtham K (4.40 lakh), Yashovardhan Parantap (2.00 lakh), Venkatesh M (2.00 lakh), Harshil Dharmani (3.20 lakh), Lankesh KS (0.50 lakh), Kumar LR (1.50 lakh), Goutham Mishra (2.25 lakh), Shikhar Shetty (4.70 lakh), Sumit Kumar (1.00 lakh), Dhanush Gowda (0.50 lakh), Kushaal M Wadhwani (0.50 lakh), Sharath Srinivas (1.00 lakh), Shamanth SM (0.50 lakh)
Bengaluru Blasters Squad: Mayank Agarawal* (14.00 lakh), Shubhang Hegde* (4.30 lakh), Suraj Ahuja* (1.00 lakh), Naveen MG* (2.30 lakh), A Rohan Patil (2.70 lakh), Chetan L R (5.10 lakh), Mohsin Khan (1.00 lakh), Vidyadhar Patil (8.30 lakh), Siddharth Akhil (0.50 lakh), Madhav Prakash Bajaj (3.15 lakh), Rohan Naveen (4.25 lakh), Kruthik Krishna (0.50 lakh), Advith M Shetty (0.25 lakh), Bhuvan Mohan Raju (0.25 lakh), Rohan M Raju (0.25 lakh), Niranjan Naik (0.25 lakh), Prateek Jain (1.00 lakh), Ishaan S (0.50 lakh)