Sanju Samson most expensive buy in KCL auction? Kerala Cricket franchise blows half its budget for RR captain

Mayank Bande

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Sanju Samson most expensive buy in KCL auction? Kerala Cricket franchise blows half its budget for RR captain image

Kerala Cricket League (KCL) is set for its second season, starting from August 21 to September 6, after a successful inaugural edition that saw the Aries Kollam Sailors (AKS) clinch the title.

Ahead of the new season, each of the six teams was given a budget of 50 Lakhs to take part in an auction. The event, which took place on Saturday, July 5, allowed teams to retain up to four players.

Sanju Samson, who hails from the state had listed his name for a base price of 3 Lakhs after missing the previous season due to a stacked international calendar.

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Samson, as expected, was a player no team wanted to miss out on. Eventually, his price increased as teams engaged in a fierce bidding war. In the end, not surprisingly, the RR captain finished as the highest-paid player in the league. 

KCL 2025: What price did Sanju Samson get sold for?

The Kochi Blue Tigers (KBT), led by Basil Thampi in the inaugural season, entered the auction looking for a new captain and a star batter with a purse of 50 Lakhs.

As soon as the Indian wicketkeeper-batter's name was called out in the auction, they bid for him starting from a base price of 3 Lakhs, which went to 10 Lakhs within minutes before the KBT went all out and broke the bank to secure his services.

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Samson was swooped in for a whopping 26.8 Lakhs, which was 53.60% of KBT's total budget in the auction. The opener is now likely to be named as the skipper of the side as well.

Who are the most expensive buys of the Kerala Cricket League 2025 auction?

The Rajasthan Royals captain and a mainstay of the India T20I side, Samson emerged as the most expensive buy of the KCL auction.

The defending champions, AKS bagged the services of Vishnu Vinod for 12.80 Lakhs. Below are the top buys of the day.

  • Sanju Samson- 26.80L (Kochi Blue Tigers)
  • Vishnu Vinod- 12.80L (Aries Kollam Sailors)
  • Jalaj Saxena- 12.40L (Alleppy Ripples)
  • Basil Thampi- 8.40L (Trivandrum Royals)
  • MS Akhil- 8.40L (Aries Kollam Sailors)

Mayank Bande

Mayank Bande has been a content producer at The Sporting News since 2023 and has extensive experience in cricket writing. His work has previously appeared on platforms like OneCricket and Last Word on Sports. Beyond cricket, Mayank closely follows football as an FC Barcelona supporter, along with tennis and Olympic sports. Despite holding a degree in Business Administration, he chose to pursue a career in sports, bringing sharp analysis to his writing as someone who once played cricket.