Bengaluru, July 15 (IANS) The fourth edition of the Shriram Capital Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 auction saw Devdutt Padikkal lead the charts as the most expensive player of the day, picked up by the Hubli Tigers for Rs 13.20 lakh.

Abhinav Manohar and Manish Pandey followed closely behind, attracting bids of Rs 12.20 lakh each from the Hubli Tigers and Mysuru Warriors respectively. Among the bowlers, Shivamogga Lions went big for pacer Vidwath Kaverappa at Rs 10.80 lakh while Bengaluru Blasters shelled out Rs 8.30 lakh for strike bowler Vidyadhar Patil, underlining the premium on wicket-takers this season.

Mysuru Warriors placed a strong emphasis on all-rounders with the addition of K Gowtham for Rs 4.40 lakh, while Yashovardhan Parantap, was roped in for Rs 2.00 lakh. The Warriors further bolstered their bowling with the signing of last season’s joint leading wicket-taker Kumar LR (Rs 1.50 lakh), left-arm spinner Shikhar Shetty for a hefty Rs 4.70 lakh, pacer Venkatesh M (Rs 2.00 lakh), and Gowtham Mishra (Rs 2.25 lakh) as well. They further reinforced the top order with promising wicketkeeper-batter Harshil Dharmani (Rs 3.20 lakh).

Bengaluru Blasters had a slow start with no signing in Category A. Their first move came with the acquisition of Chethan LR for Rs 5.10 lakh, a notable pick, having fetched the highest price in last season’s auction. They secured strike bowler Vidyadhar Patil for Rs 8.30 lakh. They continued to stack their batting with the fluent Rohan Patil (Rs 2.70 lakh) and spent big on spin by securing Rohan Naveen for Rs 4.25 lakh, followed by the exciting 16-year-old Madhav Prakash Bajaj for Rs 3.15 lakh.

Hubli Tigers, holding the biggest purse going into the day, made big moves with the signings of Devdutt Padikkal and Abhinav Manohar. The experienced Mohammad Taha was brought in to strengthen the top order for Rs 4.60 lakh, while young pacer Samarth Nagaraj joined the ranks for Rs 3.20 lakh.

Gulbarga Mystics targeted key roles with precision. They brought in wicketkeeper-batter KV Siddharth for Rs 6.10 lakh to shore up the middle order and added right-arm fast bowler Monish Reddy for Rs 4.65 lakh, giving their pace unit a boost. The Mystics were the most active in the final phase of the auction, scooping up last season’s top wicket taker, Lavish Kaushal for Rs 7.75 lakh and Nikin Jose for Rs 1 Lakh.

Shivamogga Lions also made a significant investment in young all-rounder Aneeshwar Gautam for Rs 8.20 lakh. They reinforced their squad with the addition of experienced Anirudha Joshi (Rs 3.60 lakh), and leg-spinner Deepak Devadiga (Rs 1.20 lakh).

Mangaluru Dragons were active from the outset, leading their haul with the high-profile signing of Shreyas Gopal for Rs 8.60 lakh. They showed faith in Melu Kranthi Kumar, splashing Rs 5.60 lakh on the all-rounder. They reinforced their bowling with seasoned pacer Ronit More (Rs 3.40 lakh) and Abhishek Prabhakar for Rs 3.07 lakh and also added batting options in Sharath BR (Rs 2.20 lakh) and Shivraj S (Rs 6.55 lakh). They brought in wicketkeeper Adarsh Prajwal for Rs 3.25 lakh, rounding off their haul.

Each team will make two more additions to their squads with players from their respective catchment areas.

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 Agarwal* (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).

Gulbarga Mystics: Luvnith Sisodia* (7.20 lakh), Pravin Dubey* (6.80 lakh), Vyshak V* (8.80 lakh), Smaran R* (3.15 lakh), Siddharth KV (6.10 lakh), Monish Reddy (4.65 lakh), Lavish Kaushal (7.75 lakh), Prithviraj (0.69 lakh), Harsha Wardhan Khuba (0.25 lakh), Sheetal Kumar (0.25 lakh), Jasper EJ (0.50 lakh), Mohith BA (0.50 lakh), Faizan Raiz (0.25 lakh), Sourab M Muttur (0.25 lakh), SJ Nikin Jose (1.00 lakh), Prajwal Pavan (0.50 lakh), Younus Ali Baig (0.25 lakh), Likhit M Bannur (0.80 lakh).

Hubli Tigers Squad: Manvanth Kumar L* (1.00 lakh), Shrijith KL* (2.10 lakh), KC Cariappa * (4.20 lakh), Karthikeya KP* (1.20 lakh), Abhinav Manohar (12.20 lakh), Devdutt Padikkal (13.20 lakh), Mohammed Taha (4.60 lakh), Vijayaraj B (0.50 lakh), Prakhar Chaturvedi (0.50 lakh), Sankalp SS (0.50 lakh), Samarth Nagaraj (3.20 lakh), Rakshith S (0.50 lakh), Nithin Shanthaveri Nagaraja (0.25 lakh), Yash Raj Punja (0.25 lakh), Ritesh L Bhatkal (1.00 lakh), Shreesha S Achar (1.05 lakh), Nathan Joachim Francis Dmello (0.25 lakh), Nischith Pai (0.50 lakh).

Shivamogga Lions Squad: Vasuki Koushik * (5.90 lakh), Nihal Ullal* (2.10 lakh), Hardik Raj* (5.80 lakh), Avinash D* (5.40 lakh), Vidwath Kaverappa (10.80 lakh), Anirudha Joshi (3.60 lakh), Aneeshwar Gautam (8.20 lakh), Dhruv Prabhakar (0.50 lakh), Sanjay Ashwin C (0.50 lakh), Anand Doddamani (0.50 lakh), Sahil Sharma (0.25 lakh), Deepak Devadiga (1.20 lakh), Bharath Dhuri (0.25 lakh), Rohit Kumar K (0.25 lakh), Tushar Singh (1.05 lakh), Darshan MB (1.10 lakh), Maribasava Chandrashekhar Gowda (0.25 lakh), Sireesh Balgaar (0.25 lakh).

Mangaluru Dragons Squad: Paras Gurbax Arya* (0.50 lakh), Macneil Hadley Noronha* (5.00 lakh), Lochan S Gowda* (0.55 lakh), Abhilash Shetty* (6.30 lakh), Sharath BR (2.20 lakh), Ronit More (3.40 lakh), Shreyas Gopal (8.60 lakh), Melu Kranthi Kumar (5.60 lakh), Sachin Shinde (1.00 lakh), Aneesh KV (1.00 lakh), Thippa Reddy (0.80 lakh), Aaditya Nair (1.10 lakh), Aadarsh Prajwal (3.25 lakh), Abhishek Prabhakar (3.07 lakh), Shivaraj S (6.55 lakh), Pallav Kumar Das (1.00 lakh).

–IANS

ab/