Mangaluru: The bidding of players for MPL began at the Forum Fiza Mall,Pandeshwar here, on September 26.
Luckystar Nasir welcomed the gathering. MLAs J R Lobo and Moideen Bava launched the website of MPL. Addressing the gathering MLA J R Lobo said that cricket fever has spread in Mangaluru too as 12 teams will be taking part in the forthcoming Mangalore Premier League. Through MPL, cricket lovers in Mangaluru will get an opportunity to watch live cricket. Matches will be held in the KPL and IPL model.
Lobo further said that winning and losing is not important in the game but participation makes a lot of difference. “MPL will create history for cricket in Mangaluru. We need to have an international cricket stadium. If we have an international cricket stadium, people will come from outside and our economy will grow. Mangaloreans have created name and fame be it in cricket, education or any other field. MPL will help to create national and international cricketers from Mangaluru.” He also congratulated the sponsors and the bidders and wished them success.
MLA Moideen Bava said that 12 teams have participated in the bidding. “IPL created history in the country and later, the Karnataka Premier League also started. Now Mangaluru is also organizing MPL. MPL has started the bidding process for the players, representatives from 12 teams are here to bid for the players.” He also said that MLA J R Lobo is trying hard to have an international cricket stadium in Mangaluru. “We have discussed the issue with the concerned authorities along with Ministers Abhayachandra Jain, U T Khader, Ramanath Rai, Vinay Kumar Sorake and others. Rs 20 crore will be sanctioned by the KCCI, but we need land for the ground. We need to find land for the cricket stadium so that we can have an international cricket stadium soon.”
He also said that the the Karnataka Ranji cricket team defeated the Bangla Test cricket team in a 50 over match. “Twice the Ranaji team won the trophies and created history.” He also said that Ravi Shastri, who is a Mangalorean, went to Mumbai, trained in cricket and brought laurels.
The 12 teams were divided into two pools A and B. The Pool A consists of Bedra Bulls, Kushi Super Kings, Northern SAhine, Coastal Digest, Maestro Titans and Surtkal Strikers. In Pool B there are the United Ullal, Bajpe Jaguars,Karavali Warriors, Udupi tigers, Royal Miteans and Ocean Shark.
The bidding process for the players was conducted by Imtiyaz. The first player to be bid on was Aditya Rai; Kushi Super Kings won the bid at Rs 10,000. The second bid was for Suraj Kamath, who was bagged by Maestro Titans for Rs 4000. Coastal Digest purchased N C Ayappa for Rs 1 lakh. Udupi Tigers purchased Darshan Machayya for Rs 65,000. The bidding process is on for 275 players.
Madhu Mailankody compered the programme.
