Mangaluru: After a successful season one of the cricket tournament of the city, an auction of players for the second season was organized on Friday, 7 October in Forum Fiza mall. Twelve teams playing in the ‘Mangaluru Premier League’ auctioned popular and local players for their teams at the event.
A good number of popular players who represented various teams in Karnataka Premier League were auctioned by the MPL team owners. Bigwigs from various businesses who tied up with MPL event were present at the auctioning.
In the formal inaugural ceremony of the auction, Zaheer the Chief of the title sponsor company of MPL, Al-Muzain, Ismail the head of Realtech Industrial solutions, Ratan Kumar the divisional head of Karnataka State Cricket Association, Yashpal Suvarna Former President of DK and Udupi District Co-operative Fish Marketing Federation Ltd. and Mangalorean actor Arjun Kapikad were present.
Ismail from Reatlech Industrial Soultions said that Realtech has been organizing such events in Mangalore and other parts of the world. “MPL is conducted to encourage local talent in cricket. The auction and game will help the players realize their importance in the field of cricket”, he added.
Siraj, the owner of one of the teams mentioned how the team spirit and sportsman ship should not lead to conflict between the teams or within the team. “Fights and differences in opinion is a part of the sport and in the end it all boils down to the fact that all the teams should have fun. Just as M S Dhoni says, Fun is part of the sport and nothing should come between that”, he reminded the teams.
Zaheer and Yashpal wished the second season of MPL, more success than its last season and take it to the next level. Ratan Kumar said that he is really glad to see so many teams compete this year.
There were teams from in and around Mangaluru city and bore names of the places where the team owners are from. Udupi Tigers, Kundapur Sixers, Karkala Gladiators, Team Elegant Moodbidri, Surathkal Strikers, Karavali Warriors Panambur, Red Hawks Kudla, Spark Avengers, Kankanady Knight Riders, Maestro Titans, Coastal Digest and United Ullal are the teams which will lock horns in the league.
Arjun Kapikad, Tulu movie star and a cricket enthusiast shared his experience in cricket and how he used to play cricket when he was a student.
The auction picked up momentum after the first bid was made and won by Surathkal Strikers on Karnataka Premier League Player Sameek Kolambarkar fighting for him with team Karkala Gladiators. The highest bids made and won was by team Udupi Tigers on KPL player Naveen M G for Rupees 75 thousand. With a budget of two and half lakh Rupees per team, more than 45 players got auctioned till 8 PM and many more to be auctioned.
