Six franchises, including the two new teams in Mangalore Dragons and Shivamogga Lions along with defending champions Gulbarga Mystics, last year’s runners-up Bengaluru Blasters, Mysore Warriors and Hubli Tigers battled it out for the state’s finest players with the hope of building a team that would help them attain the coveted Maharaja Trophy.

All six franchises demonstrated a clear emphasis on top-order batting with the day’s most expensive players being Abhinav Manohar, Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey.

Manohar went to the Shivamogga Lions for 15 Lakhs, while ace opener Agarwal will don the Kalyani Bengaluru Blasters jersey for yet another campaign at a price of 14 Lakhs. The left-handed big-hitter Padikkal was purchased by the Gulbarga Mystics for 13.2 Lakhs and the experienced Pandey’s services were sought by the Hubli Tigers for 10.6 Lakhs.