Kochi Blue Tigers splash over 50% of auction budget to sign Sanju Samson for KCL-2

Kochi Blue Tigers secured the services of Sanju Samson for a whopping ₹26.8 lakh in the auction for the second season of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL).

The star wicketkeeper batter, who captains Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, went for the highest bid. Vishnu Vinod, who was a squad member at Punjab Kings, was the second costliest player at the auction, with defending champions Kollam Sailors spending ₹12.80 lakh on the opener.

Sanju was participating in his maiden auction having skipped the inaugural season of KCL.

The six franchises -- Kochi Blue Tigers, Kollam Sailors, Thrissur Titans, Calicut Globstars, Trivandrum Royals and Alleppey Ripples -- had a total purse of ₹50 lakh for the auction. 

The Kochi franchise and Thrissur Titans went into the auction with the maximum purse having opted to not retain anyone from the first season. 

Former IPL player Basil Thampi was the third costliest player at the auction. Trivandrum Royals successfully bid ₹8.4 lakh for the seamer. 

India international Sanju will most certainly lead the Blue Tigers in KCL-2, which is scheduled to be played from August 22 to September 7.

Kerala Ranji Trophy captain Sachin Baby was retained by Kollam. Alleppey retained IPL 2025's breakout star Vignesh Puthur along with star opener Mohammed Azahrudeen.

Calicut retained their skipper Rohan S Kunnummal and Salman Nizar. The KCL is the flagship men's T20 League of the Kerala Cricket Association.