Mysuru, Aug 10 (IANS) The fourth edition of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 will begin on Monday at the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Cricket Stadium in Mysuru with an action-packed double-header. The tournament will be held as a closed-door event, with all 34 matches taking place at the venue from August 11 to 28.
The opening fixture will see the Gulbarga Mystics face the Mangaluru Dragons. The Mystics, semi-finalists last season, will aim to start strongly, while the Dragons, who finished at the bottom of the table, will be eager to redeem themselves.
Mystics’ top-order batter, Smaran R, recently named as a standby for the South Zone squad in the Duleep Trophy, said, “I have always enjoyed playing the Maharaja Trophy. Over the years, it has grown into a feeder line system to the bigger stages like the IPL. On a personal front, I feel I’m in a good headspace, raring to go out there and try contributing as much as possible for the team’s success.” Speaking about the season opener against the Dragons, he added, “It’s important to start the season well. With a good blend of experience and some quality youngsters, we are confident heading into the season.”
The second match of the day will bring a repeat of last year’s final as defending champions Mysore Warriors, take on the Bengaluru Blasters. Among the Blasters’ retentions this season is 24-year-old all-rounder Shubhang Hegde, who believes the side is entering the tournament with clarity and confidence. “I’m really excited. I was part of the auction table as well, so I knew exactly what we wanted and what we got was good,” he said. “We’re excited because we’ve filled in most of the blanks, and I think we’ve got everything we need for any kind of pitch that we’re going to be on.”
Action will continue Tuesday with the Hubli Tigers beginning their campaign against the Shivamogga Lions in the first match of the day. The second fixture will see Mysore Warriors take on the Gulbarga Mystics.
The league stage will run until August 25, followed by the playoffs comprising Qualifier I, the Eliminator, and Qualifier II, culminating in the Final on August 28. The top four sides at the end of the league stage will advance to the knockout phase. On all matchdays, the first clash will start at 3:15 pm, followed by the second match at 7:15 pm.
Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 match schedule
11 August – Gulbarga Mystics vs Mangaluru Dragons – 3.15 pm
11 August – Bengaluru Blasters vs Mysore Warriors – 7.15 pm
12 August – Hubli Tigers vs Shivamogga Lions – 3.15 pm
12 August – Mysore Warriors vs Gulbarga Mystics – 7.15 pm
13 August – Bengaluru Blasters vs Hubli Tigers – 3.15 pm
13 August – Mangaluru Dragons vs Shivamogga Lions – 7.15 pm
14 August – Mysore Warriors vs Mangaluru Dragons – 3.15 pm
14 August – Gulbarga Mystics vs Bengaluru Blasters – 7.15 pm
15 August – Shivamogga Lions vs Bengaluru Blasters – 3.15 pm
15 August – Hubli Tigers vs Mangaluru Dragons – 7.15 pm
16 August – Shivamogga Lions vs Gulbarga Mystics – 3.15 pm
16 August – Mysore Warriors vs Hubli Tigers – 7.15 pm
17 August – Mangaluru Dragons vs Bengaluru Blasters – 3.15 pm
17 August – Mysore Warriors vs Shivamogga Lions – 7.15 pm
18 August – Mysore Warriors vs Bengaluru Blasters – 3.15 pm
18 August – Gulbarga Mystics vs Hubli Tigers – 7.15 pm
19 August – Gulbarga Mystics vs Shivamogga Lions – 3.15 pm
19 August – Mangaluru Dragons vs Hubli Tigers – 7.15 pm
20 August – Gulbarga Mystics vs Mysore Warriors – 3.15 pm
20 August – Hubli Tigers vs Bengaluru Blasters – 7.15 pm
21 August – Mangaluru Dragons vs Mysore Warriors – 3.15 pm
21 August – Bengaluru Blasters vs Shivamogga Lions – 7.15 pm
22 August – Hubli Tigers vs Gulbarga Mystics – 3.15 pm
22 August – Shivamogga Lions vs Mangaluru Dragons – 7.15 pm
23 August – Hubli Tigers vs Mysore Warriors – 3.15 pm
23 August – Bengaluru Blasters vs Gulbarga Mystics – 7.15 pm
24 August – Bengaluru Blasters vs Mangaluru Dragons – 3.15 pm
24 August – Shivamogga Lions vs Mysore Warriors – 7.15 pm
25 August – Shivamogga Lions vs Hubli Tigers – 3.15 pm
25 August – Mangaluru Dragons vs Gulbarga Mystics – 7.15 pm
26 August – Qualifier I – 3.15 pm
26 August – Eliminator – 7.15 pm
27 August – Qualifier II – 7.15 pm
28 August – Final – 7.15 pm
Mysore Warriors squad: Karthik S U, Karthik CA, Prasidh Krishna, Karun Nair, Manish Pandey, Gowtham K, Yashovardhan Parantap, Venkatesh M, Harshil Dharmani, Lankesh KS, Kumar LR, Goutham Mishra, Shikhar Shetty, Sumit Kumar, Dhanush Gowda, Kushaal M Wadhwani, Sharath Srinivas, Shamanth SM, Gautham Sagar, M R Jayanth
Bengaluru Blasters squad: Mayank Agarawal, Shubhang Hegde, Suraj Ahuja, Naveen MG, A Rohan Patil, Chetan L R, Mohsin Khan, Vidyadhar Patil, Siddharth Akhil, Madhav Prakash Bajaj, Rohan Naveen, Kruthik Krishna, Rajvir Wadhwa, Bhuvan Mohan Raju, Rohan M Raju, Niranjan Naik, Prateek Jain, Ishaan S, Vaibhav Sharma A, Punith S
Hubli Tigers squad: Mayank Agarawal, Shubhang Hegde, Suraj Ahuja, Naveen MG, A Rohan Patil, Chetan L R, Mohsin Khan, Vidyadhar Patil, Siddharth Akhil, Madhav Prakash Bajaj, Rohan Naveen, Kruthik Krishna, Rajvir Wadhwa, Bhuvan Mohan Raju, Rohan M Raju, Niranjan Naik, Prateek Jain, Ishaan S, Vaibhav Sharma A, Punith S
Gulbarga Mystics squad: Luvnith Sisodia, Pravin Dubey, Vyshak V, Smaran R, Siddharth KV, Monish Reddy, Lavish Kaushal, Prithviraj, Harsha Wardhan Khuba, Sheetal Kumar, Jasper EJ, Mohith BA, Faizan Raiz, Sourab M Muttur, SJ Nikin Jose, Prajwal Pavan, Younus Ali Baig, Likhit M Bannur, Santosh Basavaraj, Shashikumar K
Shivamogga Lions squad: Koushik V, Nihal Ullal, Hardik Raj, Avinash D, Vidwath Kaverappa, Anirudha Joshi, Aneeshwar Gautam, Dhruv Prabhakar, Sanjay Ashwin C, Anand Doddamani, Sahil Sharma, Deepak Devadiga, Bharath Dhuri, Rohit K, Tushar Singh, Darshan MB, Maribasava Chandrashekhar Gowda, Sireesh Balgaar, Mohammed Ashfaq, Ashok
Mangaluru Dragons squad: Paras Gurbax Arya, Macneil Hadley Noronha, Lochan S Gowda, Abhilash Shetty, Sharath BR, Ronit More, Shreyas Gopal, Melu Kranthi Kumar, Sachin Shinde, Aneesh KV, Thippa Reddy, Santoke Singh, Aadarsh Prajwal, Abhishek Prabhakar, Shivaraj S, Pallav Kumar Das, Shreevathsa R Acharya, Rohan Rajendra Revankar
–IANS
ab/