THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite being listed in Pool C, with a base amount of Rs 75,000, power-packed performances in the previous season and in the recently concluded NSK Trophy helped Sibin Gireesh become the costliest player of the third edition of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL).
Alleppey Ripples purchased Sibin for Rs 11.80 lakh at the auction held at Hotel Leela Palace on Saturday. Of the 156 players grouped into three different pools, the six franchises picked up 107 players.
The previous season’s promising player Krishna Devan was retained by Calicut Globstars for Rs 11.20 lakh, after a bidding war with Thrissur Titans and Kochi Blue Tigers. Alleppey also bought senior player Sachin Baby for `10 lakh, overcoming a tough bid raised by Thrissur.
While Kochi and Thrissur each acquired 20 players, Kollam Sailors picked up 19. Alleppey, Calicut and Trivandrum Royals purchased 16 players, the minimum requirement for a team.
While Rs 50 lakh was set as the spending cap for each team, Trivandrum, Alleppey and Kochi spent the entire allocated amount. Kollam closed at Rs 49.75 lakh, Calicut at Rs 49.70 lakh and Thrissur at Rs 49.35 lakh.
Star players Vishnu Vinod (Rs 7.8 lakh by Trivandrum), Nidheesh M D (`6.6 lakh by Kollam) and Basil Thampi (`5.4 lakh by Kochi) also made the list of costliest stars from the auction’s Pool A.
Among the all-rounders, Abdul Basith was bought by Calicut for `8 lakh, while Alleppey picked up Abijith Praveen for `6 lakh. Kollam purchased promising talents M Ajnas for `7 lakh and Anand Krishnan for `5.2 lakh.
While Kollam and Thrissur both retained four players, Calicut and Trivandrum retained three, and Kochi and Alleppey two each.
