The Goa Professional League (GPL) Twenty20 in its 'Season4', has all the makings of a blockbuster. The recently-held players' auctionmade interesting news where home-grown stroke-player Sagun Kamat fetched thehighest bid overshadowing, Kolkata Knight Riders IPL5 final hero ManvinderSingh Bisla. Big-name from IPL with Chennai Super Kings, Shadab Jakati wentcheap; while former Rajasthan Royals opener Swapnil Asnodkar, who missed out onIPL last season, was second-most expensive player in the GPL4 auction.
Sagun Kamat has proved that he is the hottest property inGoa when it comes to T20. The 29-year-old left-hander has a reputation as the'big-match player'. Twice in the last three seasons, Sagun has playedmatch-winning knocks that powered his former team Salgaocar Sports Club totriumph. Moreover, Sagun won the best batsman award in all the three seasons.This time, Sagun has been bought by Dempo Cricket Club for 2.65 lakh rupees,the club which had finished runners-up in the last two GPLT20 tournaments.
This impressive record is the reason why Sagun overshadowedIPL star Manvinder Bisla (Rs 2.25 lakh), who is a powerful striker. WhileBisla, who will turn out for NRB GSA Stars, has faced better bowling attacksthan Sagun due to the former's IPL experience, Sagun has the reputation ofbeing Goa's best. The duel between Sagun and Bisla is one contest to lookforward to.
Asnodkar, who was bought by Salgaocar for Rs. 2.40 lakh,will look to make the most of this T20 season to resurrect his IPL career. The28-year-old can tear into any bowling attack. IPL star Jakati, who is a keyplayer for CSK, has played his role in M S Dhoni-led team's triumphs in IPL andChampions League. The experienced spinner, who can contribute important runs aslower-order batsman in domestic cricket, will have to bring in all hisexperience into play as he takes to the pitch for Sarvodaya Royals.
While timing is a crucial factor in cricket, it is asimportant in the auction as well. None other than former most-expensive GPLplayer, Sher Bahadur Yadav discovered that, as his luck ran out this time. Thetiming of Sher Bahadur's name to pop out with auctioneer Bharat Naik, was suchthat four out of five franchises in the auction, had completed theirfour-player Ranji quota. Dempo had a vacancy, and when Sher Bahadur's name wasannounced at Rs 40,000 base price, Dempo gobbled him up for an addition of justfive thousand rupees. All-rounder Sher Bahadur could be disappointed, but the28-year-old left-arm spinner will have to put that behind him to focus on hiscricket as his search to attract IPL interest continues.
A lot of youngsters like Amogh Dessai, Darshan Misal,Sumiran Amonkar, Harish Kutty, Vidhyadhar Kamat; will be looking to make a markwhile Ranji stars like Reagan Pinto, Sahil Dhuri, Harshad Gadekar and SaurabhBandekar want to take their T20 game to another level. In addition to the localarsenal, all five franchises will get to play four outstation players in theirteam on the match-day.
In the coming days, these teams will sign up some of the topand raw talents from all over the country. Three outstation teams including aSri Lankan outfit, will come with their players and compete in the 8-teamfield, for the prestigious title from Feb 24 to March 3 at Porvorim. All in all,the 2013 GPL T20 season can be electrifying and could turn out to be atournament Goa has never seen before.
