Star India cricketer KL Rahul has gone unsold at a base price of Rs 2 lakh in the player auction of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20, which is the domestic T20 tournament of his state Karnataka. This development may come as a shock to many, as KL Rahul fetched a Rs 14 crore bid from Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, and has been one of the tournament’s most consistent batters. However, there’s a twist regarding why Rahul went unsold in the local league.
During the auction, interested franchises inquired on KL Rahul’s availability for the 2026 edition of the Maharaja Trophy, which kickstarts on June 20. The auctioneer responded that Rahul is not available for the tournament, as of now. This information caused interested teams to shy away from bidding from Rahul.
Rahul is expected to be away for India duty in June and July. In fact, on June 20 itself, he is likely to feature in India’s third ODI against Afghanistan.
Kl Rahul goes Unsold in Maharaja T20 league auction pic.twitter.com/p2OOaXa6nQ
— Sawai96 (@Aspirant_9457) June 5, 2026
CLARIFICATION ON KL RAHUL UNSOLD IN MAHARASHTRA LEAGUE
Auctioneer say: KL may not be available as yet. As of now, the information is that KL Rahul may not be available for the tournament. pic.twitter.com/0iCCSGfEri
— Sam (@cricsam02) June 5, 2026
With Rahul not part of India’s T20I squad, his next international assignment after the Afghanistan ODI series would likely be the first ODI in the tour of England on July 14.
Interestingly, the Maharaja Trophy runs till July 12, which indicates that there would’ve been a window for Rahul to play in the league had he been bought in the auction.
However, it is unclear whether Rahul has decided to skip the entire tournament ahead of joining the India camp for the England tour.
Karnataka veterans Karun Nair and Manish Pandey fetched big bids in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 auction. Mangaluru Dragons paid Rs 18 lakh for Karun Nair, while Gulbarga Mystics shelled out Rs 12.75 lakh for Pandey.
However, the likes of Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna were sold at a much lower amount, also possibly because of India commitments.
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