Karun, Smaran emerge as costliest buys at Maharaja Trophy player auction

Karun Nair and R. Smaran emerged the biggest buys even as K.L. Rahul was unsold at the 2026 Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 tournament player auction here on Friday.

Karun was bagged by Coastal Kings Mangaluru for Rs. 18 lakh while Smaran, who has scored in excess of 350 runs in each of the last two editions, was roped in by Shivamogga Yodhas for Rs. 15.75 lakh.

Rahul’s non-selection was more or less expected, for he is part of the India squad that is playing Afghanistan at home. He is also expected to be in the party that will tour England for a white-ball series in July.

Fellow India teammates Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna received bids worth Rs. 2.6 lakh each from Mysuru Warriors, again dictated by their potential national-team commitments.

L.R. Chethan, a sought-after cricketer in the shortest format, will also join the Warriors, for Rs. 11.5 lakh, and he will have for company V. Vyshak (Rs. 8.25 lakh). Elsewhere, Hubli Tigers acquired Abhinav Manohar for Rs. 13.50 lakh and Mayank Agarwal for Rs. 11.5 lakh.

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Gulbarga Mystics snapped up Manish Pandey for Rs. 12.75 lakh and Macneil Noronha – recently called up by Chennai Super Kings as a replacement player – for Rs. 12.25 lakh.

Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters’ costliest buy was all-rounder Shubhang Hegde (Rs. 11 lakh).

Published on Jun 05, 2026