The 2024 Maharashtra Premier League season kicks off on June 2
Pune: Former Maharashtra Ranji captain Naushad Shaikh for the second successive season attracted the highest bid in the Maharashtra Premier League player auction here on Sunday. Solapur Royals bought him for ₹4.2Lakh. Kolhapur Tuskers had made the highest bid of ₹6 lakh in the 2023 auction for Shaikh.
However, he was released by the franchise after a modest tournament. Shaikh, 32, was the third name to go under the hammer and was the first player to be sold.
“The 2024 MPL will begin on June 2 at the MCA International Stadium. The 2023 MPL season was a huge success and the tournament helped Maharashtra Cricket offer a platform to cricketers in the state. I am sure the 2024 season will take Maharashtra Cricket to new heights,” said Sacheen Mulay, Chaiman MPL Governing Council
He also added that this season of Maharashtra Premier League will be broadcasted/streamed on JioCinema and Sports 18.
A total of 311 players went under the hammer but 65 players were sold for a combined sum of ₹51.5 lakh. Players were divided into three categories – Grade A (base price ₹60,000), Grade B (base price ₹40,000) and Grade C (base price ₹20,000).
The 25-year-old wicketkeeper batter Aniket Porwal, who was in Grade B with a base price of ₹40,000 went to Punit Balan Group-owned Kolhapur Tuskers for a whooping ₹3.5 lakh, the highest in the category. Kolhapur made the highest bid for a player in Grade C too. They picked up left-arm spinner Yash Khaladkar for ₹2.7 lakh, a 13.5-fold rise from his base price of ₹20,000.
Veteran all-rounder Shrikant Mundhe, who has played for Kolkata Night Riders and Sahara Pune Warriors also went to Tuskers for ₹3 lakh. Ramkrishna Ghosh, 26, who made his Ranji debut this season was the third most expensive player and went to Puneri Bappa for ₹3.4 lakh.
Wicketkeeper-bat Sahil Autade (Grade B, ₹1.9 lakh) and all-rounder Rohan Damle (Grade B, ₹1.3 lakh) were their next highest buys. Defending champions Ratnagiri Jets, who came in with the lowest available purse of ₹2.5 lakh, made Vaibhav Choughule (Grade B, ₹40,000) their first purchase.
They later picked up Maharashtra’s left-arm tweaker Satyajeet Bachhav for his base price (Grade A, ₹60,000) in the second round of bidding, their most expensive signing.
Eagle Nashik Titans have roped in Chennai Super Kings left-arm pacer Mukesh Chaudhary as their icon player for this season. Their most expensive signings were pacer Digvijay Deshmukh (Grade A, ₹3.2 lakh) and batter Ranjeet Nikam (Grade B, ₹2.2 lakh).
Solapur Royals came into the auction with a purse of ₹14.6 lakh and 10+1 (icon player) also made a series of signings and ended up with 30 players in the squad. Their buys include Manoj Ingale (Grade A, ₹2 lakh), Siddhesh Veer (Grade A, ₹1.8 lakh), and Ravi Jhangad (Grade C, ₹1.2 lakh). Chhatrapati Sambhaji Kings’ most expensive buy was India U-19 batter Digvijay Patil (Grade A, ₹1.4 lakh) followed by Pranay Singh (Grade B, ₹1.3 lakh).
Members of the MCA apex council witnessed the MPL auction. Santosh Bobde, Hon Jt. secretary of the MCA gave the Vote of Thanks.
