Picture Credit: Twitter
Maharaja T20 Trophy, the revamped version of the Karnataka Premier League, will commence on 7 August. On Saturday (July 30), the player draft was held at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The players were divided into four categories, Category A (India and IPL players), Category B (senior state), Category C (U-25, U-23, and U-19), and Category D (emerging players).
Notably, six teams, Shivamogga Strikers, Mysore Warriors, Hubli Tigers, Mangalore United, Gulbarga Mystics, and Kalyani Bangalore Blasters will feature in the tournament.
Shivamogga Strikers
The specialists in the shortest format, K Gowtham and KC Cariappa headline the Strikers squad this year.
Squad: K Gowtham, KC Cariappa, Rohan Kadam, Siddharth KV, Darshan MB, Stalin Hoover, Avinash D, Smaran R, Sharath BR (WK), Rajvir Wadhwa, Rajendra Danganavar, Utham Aiyappa, Chaitanya S, Shreyas BM, KS Devaiah, Vinay Sagar, Shreyas SP, Punith S.
Mysore Warriors
Warriors have experience in form of Karun Nair and Shreyas Gopal. On the other hand, the likes of Pavan Deshpande and Prateek Jain have been impressive in the domestic circuit.
Squad: Karun Nair, Shreyas Gopal, Shubhang Hegde, Pavan Deshpande, Vidyadhar Patil, Nihal Ullal, Prateek Jain, Lochan Appanna, Chiranjeevi GS, Naga Bharath, Bharath Duri, Shivraj S, Monish Reddy, Varun Rao TN, Rahul Prasanna, Nitin Bhille, Aditya Goyal, Abhishek Ahlawat.
Hubli Tigers
Tigers have availed the services of one of the finest bowlers in the state, Abhimanyu Mithun. Players like Luvnith Sisodia and Koushik V have impressed in limited appearances.
Squad: Abhimanyu Mithun, Luvnith Sisodia (wk), Koushik V, Liyan Khan, Naveen MG, Anand Doddamani, Shivkumar BU, Tushar Singh, Akshan Rao, Zahoor Farooqi, Rohan Naveen, Saurav Srivastav, Sagar Solanki (WK), Gowtham Sagar, Roshan Ashwathiah, Rahul Singh Rawat, Shishir Bhawane, Sharan Goud.
Mangalore United
They have roped in Stuart Binny as the coach of the team. Talented players like Abhinav Manohar and Samarth R will hold the key in the batting unit. Furthermore, United have acquired the services of Aneeshwar Gautam, who featured in the U19 World Cup 2022.
Squad: Abhinav Manohar, Samarth R, Vyshak V, Amit Verma, Venkatesh M, Aneeshwar Gautam, Sujay Sateri, Rohith Kumar AC, Macneil Noronha, Sharath HS, Shashi Kumar K, Nikin Jose SJ, Raghuveer Pavalur, Amogh S, Chinmay NA, Aditya Somanna, Yashovardhan Parantap, Dheeraj J Gowda.
Gulbarga Mystics
Mystics has already sorted its top order with the presence of Manish Pandey and Devdutt Padikkal.
Squad: Manish Pandey, Devdutt Padikkal, Karthik CA, Manoj Bhandage, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kruthik Krishna, Abhilash Shetty, Kushaal M Wadhwani, Pranav Bhatia, Shrijith KL (WK), Ritesh Bhatkal, Mohit BA, Rohan Patil, Dhanush Gowda, Mohammed Aqib Jawad, Shreesha Achar, Jeshwanth Acharya, Aaron Christie.
Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters:
Mayank Agarwal is likely to be the leader of Blasters in this season. In the bowling unit, they have included J Suchith and Ronit More to their ranks.
Squad: Mayank Agarwal, Suchith J, Anirudha Joshi, Pradeep T, Kranthi Kumar, Chetan LR, Aneesh KV, Kumar LR, Rakshith S, Rishi Bopanna, Santok Singh, Suraj Ahuja (WK), P Gurbax Arya, Lochan Gowda, Ronit More, Shaun Tristan Joseph, Kush Marate, Tanay Walmik.