Kochi Blue Tigers buys Sanju Samson for a record amount at KCL auction
Samson also became the most expensive player in the history of the KCL.
Trivandrum Royals was the first team to bid for Sanju for ₹10 lakh but Thrissur Titans joined the fray and straightaway increased the amount to ₹20 lakh. Blue Tigers responded with ₹20.20 lakh and pursued it till Titans backed out when the price touched ₹26.80 lakh.
Blue Tigers splurged more than 50 per cent of its available purse of ₹50 lakh for buying Samson. Apart from Samson, the Kochi side also bought K.M. Asif, Vinoop Manoharan and Akhin Sathar to complete the quota in Category A. It also sprang a surprise by buying the oldest player in the auction, the 42-year-old K.J. Rakesh for ₹75,000.
'Sanju brings in a lot of value to the side. He was always in our plans from the outset and we were determined to get him at all costs,' said Blue Tigers coach Raiphy Vincent Gomez.
Vishu Vinod was the second most expensive buy in the auction. The swashbuckling batter was pocketed by Aries Kollam Sailors for ₹12.80 lakh.
Titans and Alleppey Ripples bid aggressively for Jalaj Saxana with the latter nailing the all-rounder for ₹12.40 lakh. Basil Thampi was Royals' most expensive buy at ₹8.40 lakh. Royals also used the RTM (Right to Match) card to buy Abdul Basith for ₹6.40 lakh. Titans exercised the RTM cards to buy back Ahammed Imran, M.D. Nidheesh, Mohammed Ishque and Akshay Manohar while Blue Tigers used it for Nikhil Thottath, P.S. Jerin, Vipul Shakti and Jobin Joby.
M. Nikhil was the most expensive player sold in Category B as he was bought for ₹5.9 lakh by Royals. Royals also paid the highest bid amount for a Category C player, doling out ₹3.95 lakh for V. Ajith. In all, 26 players (out of 31) in Category A, 16 (from 40) in Category B and 49 (from 84) in Category C were sold.
The squads (amount in lakh): Aries Kollam Sailors: Biju Narayanan (1.5), Sachin Baby (7.5), Sharafuddeen (5), Abhishek J. Nair (1.5), M.S. Akhil (8.4), Vishnu Vinod (12.80), Pavan Raj (2.5), Eden Apple Tom (1.5), Vathsal Govind (1.5), Rahul Sharma (0.75), Athuljith Anu (0.75), A.G. Amal (0.85), Ashik Muhammad (0.75), Bharath Soorya (0.75), P.S. Sachin (0.75), Vijay Viswanath (1.50), Jose S. Perayil (0.75), N.S. Ajayghosh (0.75).
Alleppey Ripples: Mohammed Azharuddeen (7.5), Akshay Chandran (5), Vignesh Puthur (3.75), T.K. Akshay (1.5), N.P. Basil (5.4), Jalaj Saxena (12.4), Sreehari S. Nair (4), Mohammed Kaif (1.5), Aaditya Baiju (1.5), Anuj Jotin (0.75), Rahul Chandran (0.75), M.P. Sreeroop (0.80), Balu Babu (0.75), K.A. Arun (0.75), Abhishek P. Nair (0.75), Akash Pillai (0.75), Mohammed Nazil (0.75), Arjun Nambiar (0.75).
Calicut Globstars: Rohan Kunnummal (7.5), Salman Nizar (5), Akhil Scaria (3.75), Anfal Pallam (1.5), M. Ajnas (6.4), S.Midhun (5), Sachin Suresh (5.3), Manu Krishnan (1.8), Akhil Dev (1.05), Monu Krishna (2.1), Ibnul Afthab (3.65), Ajith Raj (0.75), Preethish Pavan (0.75), Krishna Devan (0.75), M.U. Harikrishnan (1.5), Shine John Jacob (1.5), S.N. Ameersha (0.75), T.V. Krishna Kumar (0.75),
Trivandrum Royals: Govind Dev Pai (1.5), S. Subin (1.5), T.S. Vinil (1.5), Basil Thampi (8.4), Abhijith Praveen (4.2), Abdul Basith (6.4), Krishna Prasad (3), Fanooz Faiz (4.6), Riya Basheer (1.6), M. Nikhil (5.9), Sanjeev Satheesan (2.2), V. Ajith (3.95), Asif Salem (0.90), J.S. Anuraj (1.5), Adwaith Prince (0.75), J. Ananthakrishnan (1.5).
Thrissur Titans: Shoun Roger (4.4), Sijomon Joseph (5.2), Anand Krishnan (7), Varun Nayanar (3.2), Ahammed Imran (3), M.D. Nidheesh (3), C.V. Vinod Kumar (6.2), Mohammed Ishaque (1.5), Akshay Manohar (3.5), K.R. Rohith (0.75), Arun Poulose (0.80), Vishnu Menon (1.4), Adithya Vinod (0.75), Athif Bin Ashraf (1.25), K Ajnas (0.75), Anand Joseph (1.1), Amal Ramesh (0.75), Sibin Gireesh (1.5), A.K. Arjun (2.85), Aju Paulose (0.75).
Kochi Blue Tigers: Vinoop Manoharan (3), Sanju Samson (26.80), K.M. Asif (3.2), Akhin Sathar (3), Nikhil Thottath (2.1), P.S. Jerin (2.4), K. Ajeesh (0.75),Muhammed Shanu (0.75), Vipul Shakti (0.95), N. Afrad (0.75), K.J. Rakesh (0.75), Jobin Joby (0.85), Saly Samson (0.75), Muhammad Ashik (0.75), Alfi Francis John (2.2), K.G.Akhil (1).
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