Agarwal first uncapped player in RCB's net

Agarwal thus became the first uncapped player to sign up with RCB after the two-day auction held at Bangalore.

Bangalore has also been trying to get Ambati Rayudu, who impressed all with a strong show for Baroda in the on-going Ranji Trophy season. RCB’s director Siddharth Mallya had visited Vadodara, where Baroda are playing their Ranji Trophy final against Rajasthan.

However, they failed to rope in the explosive Manish Pandey as the player has apparently turned down an offer from RCB. Pandey was more keen to move into the Sahara Pune Warriors camp.

“I have to be very careful. I can’t say anything at the moment. But Pune are in touch with me,” Pandey said.

Incidentally, Pune had bought Karnataka lad Robin Uthappa for a staggering USD 2.1 million (approx Rs 9.5 crore) during last week’s auction. “We are quite happy to have Uthappa in our side as he is a proven match-winner in the T20 version,” said Sushant Roy, owner of the Pune outfit.

Pune have also signed three Maharashtra players, Harshad Khadiwale, Ganesh Gaikwad and Shrikant Mundhe.

Raiphi for Kochi

Meanwhile, Team Kochi signed up Kerala Ranji captain Raiphi Vincent Gomez on Friday. Raiphi, who won the Border-Gavaskar Scholarship in 2003 along with Udit Patel and Siddharth Trivedi, was part of the Rajasthan Royals from the second edition of the IPL.

“I have been a part of the Rajasthan Royals, so I have experienced the IPL atmosphere. Now, I am happy to be back and play in the IPL for the team from my State,” Raiphi said.
Kochi has also approached former India player Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who is now a part of the Rajasthan Ranji team, but the Maharashtra man will be drafted into the role of assistant coach.

Geoff Lawson, former Australia pacer and Pakistan coach, is the coach of Kochi. Delhi Daredevils, meanwhile, signed promising batsman Unmukt Chand.