Recently, on September 01 (Sunday), the Maharaja Trophy 2024 concluded with Mysore Warriors claiming the championship title by defeating Bengaluru Blasters by 45 runs.

During the 3rd edition of the tournament, a few players exhibited brilliant performances. Top performers such as Karun Nair and Abhinav Manohar previously participated in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and will be aiming to have a breakthrough season. Whereas, fresh talents like LR Kumar, R.Smaran, LR Chethan, Lavish Kushal, Shubhang Hegde, Vidyadhar Patil, and several others have themselves available by exhibiting exceptional performance in the tournament ahead of the mega auction before the upcoming season in 2025.

Let’s take a look at five players who could be the main potential targets for the franchises during the mega auction.

1. Karun Nair (Mysore Warriors):

Karun Nair as a captain not only led his team to the first Maharaja Trophy win but also made a significant contribution with the bat as the leading run-scorer of the tournament. In 12 innings, Nair scored 560 runs at an average of 62.22 and a strike rate of 181.22.

Here are the scores of Karun Nair for his team Mysore Warriors against these teams in this year’s Maharaja Trophy 2024 tabulated below:

The middle-order batter was the pillar of the team’s batting line-up by scoring runs consistently. Earlier, he represented various IPL teams but didn’t have a career-best season so far even after playing 76 matches and scoring 1,496 runs.

However, the dynamic performance Karun gave in this tournament’s edition tempts every IPL franchise to secure his services to add freshness and explosiveness to the batting line-up.

2. Abhinav Manohar (Shivamogga Lions):

After achieving a dream run with the bat as the 2nd highest run scorer in the Maharaja Trophy 2024, Abhinav Manohar will be aiming to have a breakthrough edition in IPL 2025. In the recently concluded tournament, he was the consistent run scorer for his team by accumulating 550 runs in 10 matches at an average of 78.57 and here are his performances against these teams:

Abhinav played only 19 matches for his team Gujarat Titans from 2022 to 2024. But, he was able to score only 231 runs at an average of 16.5 and a strike rate of 132.76. It is expected that the franchise will release several players ahead of the mega-auction, and Abhinav Manohar could be one among those. If such happens, then other IPL franchises are ready to acquire him by providing lucrative offers based on his recent form.

3. Vidyadhar Patil (Mysore Warriors):

IPL teams have always given preference to players who perform well in domestic T20 leagues and one such cricketer is Vidyadhar Patil. Ranking as the leading wicket-taker in the Maharaja Trophy 2024, Patil took 17 wickets in 9 matches at an average of 17.82. His ability to pick up wickets at an early stage makes him eligible to claim an attractive maiden IPL contract during the mega auction.

4. LR Kumar (Hubli Tigers):

The right-arm medium pacer LR Kumar ranks as the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament. He took 17 wickets in 9 matches for his team Hubli Tigers at an average of 17.65. At times, he bowled the most challenging overs for his side.

His back-to-back performances against Mysore Warriors, where he took 5 wickets against the same team in 2 different matches (2-37 in 4 overs during league stages and 3-37 in 4 overs during 2nd semi-final) grabbed the attention of the cricket world.

Possibly, the IPL franchises are looking to buy new players who concluded as the highest wicket-takers of the domestic season and Kumar could be the best choice to offer him the best reasonable maiden IPL contract.

5. LR Chethan (Bengaluru Blasters):

LR Chethan, the third-highest run scorer of Maharaja Trophy 2024 aims to make his IPL debut in style. He scored 429 runs in 11 matches at an average of 42.90. As the opening batter of Bengaluru Blasters, Chethan’s unbeaten knock of 51-ball-89 runs (including 9 fours and 4 sixes) in a crucial run chase of 156 runs, helped his team achieve a 9-wicket victory with 17 balls to spare. However, in the finals, his dismissal after scoring 51 runs, resulted in the sequential collapse of other batters, which resulted in a 45-run loss against Mysore Warriors.

These are the scores of Chethan against these teams in this year’s Maharaja Trophy 2024 tabulated below: