Big gains for North Mumbai Panthers, Aakash Tigers at T20 Mumbai League men’s auction

MCA president Ajinkya Naik (right) and T20 Mumbai League Governing Council chairman Rajdip Gupta with the trophy on Saturday. PIC/Atul Kamble

It's always intriguing when, in an auction, a team enters into a bidding war for a particular player, but in the end, it's another team that acquires him.

This was the case with defending champions Maratha Royals, who wanted to retain all-rounder Vaibhav Mali, but had to let go of him at Saturday's auction for Season 4 of the T20 Mumbai League which will be held from June 1 for a fortnight, The team that succeeded in acquiring Mali was North Mumbai Panthers for Rs 9 lakh.

Head coach of Eagle Thane Strikers Dhawal Kulkarni also missed out on picking Shashank Attarde, last year's purple cap holder. "Very satisfied with the way the auction went. We have a balance of youth and experience and covered all the bases. Got all targeted players except Shashank Attarde, unfortunately, but such are the auction dynamics," said Kulkarni.

Attarde went to Aakash Tigers for his base price of Rs 3 lakh. Meanwhile, head coach of Aakash Tigers Vinayak Mane was happy with his picks. "We have Shams Mulani, Sarfaraz Khan, Jay Bista as retained players, a solid middle order, good pace department and also the India under-19 player Naman Pushpak, a leg-spinner," said Mane.

Mumbai Cricket Association president Ajinkya Naik said all those India internationals from Mumbai, who are available to play in the T20 Mumbai League, but do not participate, will not be considered for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. "It is a common practice in Mumbai for international players to play for their respective clubs. We are only continuing with that practice," said Naik.

Chairman of the T20 League governing council Rajdip Gupta laid emphasis on the Tier 2 players getting opportunities in the TML: "The recently-concluded MCA Champions Trophy provided opportunities for the fringe players to showcase their skills. About 10 players from the Champions Trophy have been picked up in the auction, and that is good news for them."

Among the top buys for Season 4 were Akash Parkar, who went to SoBo Mumbai Falcons for Rs 12 lakh while Arcs Andheri picked up the next three costliest players - Prasad Pawar (Rs 11.50L), Musheer Khan (Rs 11L) and Arjun Tendulkar (Rs 10L).

Top 3 buys

>> Akash Parkar (SoBo Mumbai Falcons): Rs 12 lakh
>> Prasad Pawar (Arcs Andheri): Rs 11.50 lakh
>> Musheer Khan (Arcs Andheri): Rs 11 lakh