Big guns set to battle for Maharaja Trophy

Bengaluru: The third edition of the Maharaja Trophy will get underway at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.

Big guns Hubli Tigers' Manish Pandey, Bengaluru Blasters' Mayank Agarwal, Mysuru Warriors' Karun Nair, Shivamogga Lions' Abhinav Manohar and Gulbarga Mystics duo of Devdutt Padikkal and Vyshak Vijaykumar were retained by their respective franchises ahead of the auction.

Emerging youngsters Smaran Ravi, Aneesh KV, Nikin Jose, Karthik SU and Manvanth Kumar too were retained after impressive breakthrough performances, while the likes of Chethan LR, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham and J Suchith were picked during the auction.

Defending champions Hubli Tigers look well-placed to defend their crown, and will bank on their batting line-up comprising of Pandey, Aneeshwar Gautam, KL Shrijith and Mohammad Taha.

Pace-bowling all-rounder Manvanth Kumar, the highest wicket-taker in the previous edition, will lead the bowling attack along with the ever-impressive Vidwath Kaverappa.

Last season's finalists Mysore Warriors made some shrewd picks in the auction, and boast of a well-rounded bowling attack of J Suchith, K Gowtham, Vidyadhar Patil, M Venkatesh and Prasidh Krishna.

Devdutt Padikkal, who sat out the second edition with injury, returns to bolster Gulbarga Mystics. The inaugural winners are another side with rich batting resources in Smaran R, Aneesh KV, Luvnith Sisodia and Sharath BR all vying for top-order berths.

Bengaluru Blasters and Mangaluru Dragons have taken a punt on youngsters. The Blasters, under Agarwal's captaincy, made the final of the inaugural edition and splurged big money to buy Chethan back. The southpaw was a vital cog in that run.

Dragons have assembled a well-balanced squad featuring Rohan Patil, Nikin, Gopal, Siddharth KV, Macneil Hadley Noronha and Dheeraj J Gowda.

Shivamogga Lions will turn to Manohar for batting fireworks, while Vasuki Koushik will seek to work his magic with the ball.

Today's matches: Bengaluru Blasters vs Gulbarga Mystics (3 pm), Shivamogga Lions vs Mysore Warriors (7 pm). LIVE on FanCode.