Kathmandu, January 7

Mehboob Alam, Karan KC, Sompal Kami and Sagar Pun were the most expensive players of the franchise-based Sagarmatha Cement Dhangadhi Premier League as they were sold for Rs 100,000 during an auction here today.

CYC Attariya bought Alam and KC in their team, while Kathmandu Goldens acquired Kami in the team and Kanchanpur Iconic took Pun. Similarly, Kathmandu Goldens paid Rs 95,000 for Naresh Budhayer, while CYC Attariya bought Prithu Baskota and Team Chauraha Dhangadhi took Pradeep Airee for Rs 90,000 each.

Biratnagar Kings bought the U-19 national team skipper as well as youth sensation Sandeep Lamichhane, who has already featured for the national team, for Rs 60,000.

The participating six teams bought 14 players each from the auction as they had already named their skippers. The teams have paid Rs 150,000 for their captains, while 17 players were sold for the lowest price of Rs 20,000.

A total of 14 players had been categorised in Pool A, 32 players were in Pool B, 40 players in Pool C and 121 cricketers in Pool D for the auction. Only Mahesh Chhetri and Paresh Lohani remained unsold from Pool A.

The organisers had set Rs 50,000 as base amount for national team players with at least 15 caps, while the base amount for national team players with less than 15 caps and U-19 team members was Rs 30,000. Likewise, the base amount for former age-group players was set at Rs 25,000 and the money for uncapped players was Rs 20,000.

Team Chauraha Dhangadhi, captained by Paras Khadka, bought Dipendra Thapa, Rashid Khan, Amar Singh Rautela, Prakash Jung Karki, Lalit Rajbanshi, Anil Mandal, Saurav Khanal, Prem Tamang, Prithu Baskota, Raju Rijal, Aarif Sheikh, Sushan Bhari, Aadil Khan and Ram Naresh Giri through the auction.

CYC Attariya, led by Gyanendra Malla, acquired Roshan Nepali, Gyanendra Kunwar, Yogesh Bhat, Abinash Bohara, Dilip Nath, Pradeep Airee, Shashi Keshari, Mehboob Alam, Yogendra Singh Karki, Sandeep Sunar, Karan KC, Surendra Chand, Bhuwan KC and Binod Lama.

Kathmandu Goldens, under the captaincy of Basant Regmi, bought Sandeep Jora, Aanshu Kandoi, Hari Krishna Jha, Dinesh Aagri, Jitendra Singh Thakuri, Santosh Bhatt, Sumit Maharjan, Bhuwan Karki, Rohit Kumar Paudel, Naresh Budhayer, Nandan Yadav, Manjeet Shrestha, Subendu Pandey and Sompal Kami.

Likewise, Binod Bhandari-led Kanchanpur Iconic bought Ramesh Bhatt, Anil Kumar Thapa, Sonu Tamang, Neeraj Chand, Sagar Pun, Kamal Singh Airee, Kushal Bhurtel, Avinash Karn, Bhim Sharki, Sunil Dhamala, Siddhant Lohani, Lalit Singh Bhandari, Chandra Saud and Hasim Ansari. Biratnagar Kings, under the captaincy of Sharad Vesawkar, acquired Aakash Thapa, Prafulla Baidya, Rakesh Karn, Kishor Mahato, Sushil Kandel, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pawan Sarraf, Prakash Bista, Aasif Sheikh, Pranit Thapa Magar, Amit Shrestha, Anil Kumar Sah, Sandeep Lamichhane and Jitendra Mukhiya.

Similarly, Rupandehi Challengers, led by Shakti Gauchan, bought Ganesh Gaudel, Shahab Alam, Bikram Kumar Bhusal, Durgesh Gupta, Subash Khakurel, Prakash KC, Krishna Karki, Nurdhoj Singh, Rajesh Pulami Magar, Shankar Rana, Bikram Sob, Hari Shankar Sah, Pushpa Thapa and Antim Thapa.

Dhangadhi Cricket Academy is organising the tournament from March 18 to April 1 at the SSP Cricket Grounds in Dhangadhi. The winners and runners-up will receive Rs 1.5 million and Rs 700,000 respectively.