Goa cricketers hope for better luck at auction

Panaji: Goa did not have a representative at the last edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket and fans will hope they have someone to cheer of their own as the auction takes place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. A total of 350 cricketers, including 240 Indians, will go under the hammer at the IPL auction with 1,390 players being registered. The number was first reduced to 1,005 players before 350 were finally shortlisted to battle for 77 slots available, including 31 for overseas players, across the 10 teams for the 19th edition of the world’s biggest T20 league. Three players registered with the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) are among those who will go under the hammer. There’s Suyash Prabhudessai, captain of the state team at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 cricket tournament, besides Abhinav Tejrana, who has moved base to Goa since 2021, and Lalit Yadav, a professional cricketer who has switched allegiance from Delhi to Goa for this season. All three have enjoyed impressive forms this season, particularly in the just-concluded domestic T20 assignment. Suyash, for example, struck three consecutive half centuries in the SMA T20 cricket, that too against quality opposition. He remained unbeaten against Madhya Pradesh (75*) and J&K (51*) and struck a quickfire 79 against Bihar. The batting allrounder has played 11 IPL matches during his three-year stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru from 2022 to 2024.

He went unsold last season and will now hope for better luck at the auction. Abhinav, 25, is among the highest run getters in the elite Ranji Trophy division with 651 runs from five matches, at an average of 93. He has scored three hundreds, which includes a double century (205) against Chandigarh at home in the opener. In T20 cricket, most recently, the batter has two fifties against Uttar Pradesh (75) and Madhya Pradesh (55). Lalit, who has previously played 27 matches for Delhi Capitals, will also hope to catch the franchises’ eye with his 275 runs from seven matches at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 cricket. His unbeaten 85 against Hyderabad and unbeaten 82 against Chandigarh were particularly impressive knocks. The pool at the auction comprises 224 uncapped Indian players and 14 uncapped overseas players, adding significant depth and fresh talent to this year’s roster. Of the 350 players, 40 cricketers have opted for the highest base price bracket of ₹2 crore, while 227 uncapped domestic players have fixed their base price at ₹30 lakh, the lowest among the eight available brackets.