Old warhorse Amit Verma and the improving K Gowtham attracted the joint-highest bid at the players auction for the sixth edition of the Karnataka Premier League here on Sunday.
Verma, the versatile left-handed batsman and Gowtham, the talented off-spinning all-rounder, were picked by Ballari Tuskers and Belagavi Panthers respectively for Rs 7.2 lakh each.
A total Rs 2.06 crore was spent on 126 players while 87 players were unsold.
Verma represented Ballari last season and the franchise was successful in getting back the 30-year-old. The Tuskers and the new entrant Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters showed early interest for Verma and it seemed like a two-way battle till Mysuru Warriors joined the race at Rs six lakh.
The Bengaluru franchise then stopped bidding and the Tuskers staved off the competition from the Warriors to seal the deal.
“I never expected to be picked for this much amount. But I am very happy that I am back with Ballari because I really wanted to be back with the same guys,” said Verma.
Gowtham, who was one of the stand-out performers for Karnataka last season, was expectedly the hot property coming into the auction.
Such was the demand for the 28-year-old that as many as four teams vied for him before Belagavi had the last laugh. It was Hubli Tigers and Bangalore early on in the race before Tuskers entered the bidding at Rs 5.8 lakh. Panthers, who appeared to have made some quick strategies, raised it to Rs 6 lakh and went on to acquire Gowtham.
On Saturday, Gowtham was named in the India ‘A’ squad which will play two-four day games against South Africa ‘A’ between August 12 and 22. The Bengaluru player though will be availabale for KPL, which is likely to begin from September 1.
Opener Mayank Agarwal won the second highest bid when Hubli Tigers got the youngster for Rs seven lakh.
The attacking batsman, who played for the Panthers, was the highest run-scorer (414) last season.
R Samarth (Bengaluru, Rs 5.9 lakh) and Prateek Jain (Ballari, Rs 5.5 lakh) were the other big gainers of the day. The Mysuru unit, with the likes of Karun Nair, Shreyas Gopal, J Suchith, Suneer Raju, Arjun Hoysala, Vyshak Vijaykumar and SL Akshay, made smart choices to attain a balanced squad.
The Bengaluru franchise focused more on young talents to acquire players like Prasidh Krishna, Pavan Deshpande and Mitrakanth Yadav.
In Pool B, R Jonathan, who attracted the joint highest bid with Prateek Jain last season, won the maximum money when he was picked by Namma Shivamogga for 5.1 lakh.
K L Rahul (Tuskers, Rs 50,000) and Manish Pandey (Panthers, Rs 1.6 lakh) were expectedly in less demand thanks to their upcoming international commitments.
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