Pune franchise named the star batter Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain to lead the team in the 2023 edition of the Maharashtra Premier League on Sunday, June 4. Maharashtra Premier League 2023 (MPL) received a staggering Rs 57.80 crore for six franchises on Sunday. Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA)-backed T20 franchise league received a record Rs 14.80 crore for the Pune franchise which also won the bid for Ruturaj Gaikwad as their icon player.
The six-team tournament will kick off on June 15 and all matches will be played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Ground located outskirts of Pune. MCA president Rohit Pawar revealed that the state received bids from over 20 entities in the franchise auction. He also added that the management was expecting Rs 18 crore from the sale of six teams but received more than thrice the expected valuation.
“We had kept a base price of Rs 1 crore per year for three years for the six teams expecting a minimum value of Rs 18 crore for the MPL," Rohit Pawar said. "But we in turn received a record franchise fee of whopping Rs 57.80 crore for six teams for three years after the teams were auctioned today. We followed a completely transparent process to buy the ownership through an open bid system.”
According to a statement released by MCA, the tournament will follow the IPL module and will also broadcast live matches on DD Sports and online platforms.
Pune-based Pravin Masalewale won the bid for the Pune franchise and signed Chennai Super Kings' star batter Ruturaj Gaikwad as its icon player. The veteran batting all-rounder Kedar Jadhav will represent the Kolhapur franchise, which was bought by Punit Balan Group for Rs 11 crore. Nashik, Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, and Solapur are the remaining four franchises that will feature in the first three editions of the tournament.
