Stage all set for Maharaja Trophy

Bengaluru: The players draft for the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 tournament marked a new beginning for the event, which was earlier the franchise-based Karnataka Premier League. The player auction made way for a transparent draft system through which first the coaches and then the players for six teams were picked here on Saturday.
In Category A, 13 players, who have played the Indian Premier League and represented India, came up in the draft.The order of teams too was decided by the draw of lots and Mysore Warriors got the first choice. Coach PV Shashikanth did not bat an eyelid before picking Karun Nair as the first player and he was joined by Shreyas Gopal. Amongst the marquee players, Mayank Agarwal, J Suchith and Ronit More were snapped up by Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters, while Manish Pandey and Devdutt Padikkal were picked by Gulbarga Mystics. The spin duo K Gowtham and KC Cariappa went to Shivamogga Strikers, while Abhinav Manohar found a home with Mangalore United. Seasoned pacer Abhimanyu Mithun was recurited by Hubli Tigers. Meanwhile, spinners KP Appanna and Shivil Kaushik found no takers.
The performance of players in KSCA leagues, especially in white-ball cricket, was a decisive factor in team compositions. Also rewarded were consistent performers in the U-19 and U-25 BCCI competitions last season. Each team picked a total of 18 players and will select the mandatory two players from their catchment areas on Sunday.
The tournament will get under way in Mysuru on August 7 and a total of 16 matches will be played there. The action then shifts to the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru from August 17, where 18 matches will be played, including the final on August 26.