The fourth edition of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 auction witnessed an intense bidding war, with Devdutt Padikkal emerging as the most sought-after player. The southpaw was acquired by Hubli Tigers for a commanding sum of ₹13.20 lakh, making him the highest-priced player of the day. Close behind were Abhinav Manohar and Manish Pandey, who both fetched ₹12.20 lakh. Manohar will join Padikkal at Hubli Tigers, while Pandey will represent the defending champions Mysuru Warriors.
Among the bowlers, Shivamogga Lions made a major move by signing pacer Vidwath Kaverappa for ₹10.80 lakh. Bengaluru Blasters also strengthened their bowling attack, securing Vidyadhar Patil for ₹8.30 lakh, showing a clear focus on strike bowling this season.
Notably, the Warriors built a well-rounded squad, particularly focusing on all-rounders. They bought back in K Gowtham for ₹4.40 lakh and added depth to their bowling with left-arm spinner Shikhar Shetty (₹4.70 lakh), pacers Venkatesh M (₹2.00 lakh) and Gowtham Mishra (₹2.25 lakh), as well as last season’s joint highest wicket-taker Kumar LR (₹1.50 lakh). Their batting lineup was bolstered with wicketkeeper-batter Harshil Dharmani (₹3.20 lakh) and Yashovardhan Parantap (₹2.00 lakh).
Bengaluru Blasters, despite a slow start with no buys in Category A, made a strong comeback. They picked up Chethan LR for ₹5.10 lakh, followed by key additions such as Rohan Patil (₹2.70 lakh), spinner Rohan Naveen (₹4.25 lakh), and promising youngster Madhav Prakash Bajaj for ₹3.15 lakh.
Hubli Tigers, with the largest purse entering the auction, aggressively built their squad, also adding Mohammad Taha (₹4.60 lakh) and pacer Samarth Nagaraj (₹3.20 lakh). Gulbarga Mystics made targeted picks, adding KV Siddharth (₹6.10 lakh), pacer Monish Reddy (₹4.65 lakh), Lavish Kaushal (₹7.75 lakh), and Nikin Jose (₹1.00 lakh).
Shivamogga Lions invested in youth, securing Aneeshwar Gautam (₹8.20 lakh), along with veterans Anirudha Joshi (₹3.60 lakh) and Deepak Devadiga (₹1.20 lakh). Mangaluru Dragons started strong, signing Shreyas Gopal (₹8.60 lakh), all-rounder Melu Kranthi Kumar (₹5.60 lakh), and pacers Ronit More (₹3.40 lakh) and Abhishek Prabhakar (₹3.07 lakh). Their squad also includes Sharath BR, Shivraj S, and keeper Adarsh Prajwal.
Each franchise will complete their squad with two more players from their respective catchment 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)
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)
Players marked with asterisks were retained by the respective franchises