Bangalore: Hectic Bidding as Franchise Owners Hunt for Star Players for KPL Action
By Denzil Fernandes in Bangalore
Daijiworld Media Network
Bangalore, Aug 14: There was plenty of drama and action as the auction for the 48 top players from Karnataka took place at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) in Bangalore on Friday for the forthcoming Karnataka Premier League (KPL).
The bidding with all the 8 franchise owners of the teams present along with their support staff present was conducted by popular commentator Charu Sharma with the KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel and other committee members present.
Interestingly, all the KPL teams except Mangalore have come up with stylish names like Malnad Gladiators, Bijapur Bulls, Mysore Maharajaas, Bangalore Brigaders (Urban), Belgavi Panthers, Shamnur Davangere Diamonds, and Provident Bangalore Rural. It is learnt that the name of the Mangalore Team will be announced shortly.
Each team had a total kitty of Rs.7 lacs to pick 6 players from the pool of 48 players and there was frantic bidding for some of the well known names in Karnataka cricket.
The auction began with K.P.Appanna being picked first out of the bowl who was bagged by Malnad Gladiators for Rs.145,000 and the most in demand player Robin Uthappa was the second to be picked up by Bangalore Raiders for the top rate of Rs.325,000 without any hesitation. Akhil, another prominent Karnataka players went to Provident Bangalore for Rs.300,000 and former test spinner Sunil Joshi was picked by Shamnur Davangere Diamonds for Rs.205000 while the Mangalore team bagged Bharat Chipli for Rs.235,000 as their first pick. Surprisingly, Stuart Binny, former ICL player and son of test cricketer Roger Binny turned out to be one of the highly priced players with a tag of Rs.320,000 for Bijapur Bulls. Manish Pandey who hit the headlines in the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) went to Belgavi Panthers for Rs.255,000 and will have a big task to prove that he is not a flash in the pan type of player. Belgavi Panthers also have top Karnataka all rounder Vinay Kumar who was bought for Rs.250,000 to make their team a formidable one. From the young brigade, David Mathias, ex Bahrain junior now at St. Joseph’s College in Bangalore was taken by Bangalore Brigaders for Rs.35,000 which will give the youngster a great chance to show his batting talent.
The six players who were taken up by the Mangalore Team are Udit Patel (Rs.90,000), Bharat Chipli (Rs.235,000), Arvind S (Rs.125,000), Karun Nair (Rs.40,000), Sinan Abdul Khader (Rs.30,000) and Jonathan (Rs.180,000). The Mangalore team will add some more players by the end of the month in a rare kind of cricket reality show that is set to take place in Mangalore.
Besides, the above 48 players, there will be more aditions from yet another list of 120 lesser known players who will be directly selected by the respective franchise owners.
Some of the teams have already announced their team managers and coaches which include former Karnataka captain P.V.Shashikanth as the coach of the Bijapur Bulls. The Belgavi Panthers will have Arun Kumar as their coach and former pacer Dodda Ganesh will coach Shamnur Davanagere Diamonds. The Mangalore team will have Sanath Jayaraj as their coach.
All in all, it was a hectic day full of spirited bidding by various franchise owners. One hopes that the action on the field as the KPL takes off will give enough for the Karnataka selectors who have found it hard to fix a strong Karnataka team especially in their Ranji Trophy outings. The KPL is surely going to create a new atmosphere in the cricket circles and one hopes that there will be new talent unearthed as the 8 franchise teams make an effort to etch their name on the KPL trophy for the first time.