KPL 2019: The eighth edition of KPL from August 16; IPL-style play-offs introduced

Bengaluru, July 27: The eighth edition of the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) will start on August 16 with defending champions Bijapur Bulls facing off against Bengaluru Blasters at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The KPL 2019 will feature seven teams - Bijapur Bulls, Belagavi Panthers, Bengaluru Blasters, Hubli Tigers, Shivamogga Lions, Ballari Tuskers and Mysuru Warriors, who were all in the fray during the KPL 2018.

But this year, the KPL will make a slight deviation from the past in terms of tournament format, adding the IPL style eliminators and qualifiers. The new system will replace the existing method of top four team enterin the semifinals.

The player auction to be held on Saturday (July 27) will see over 200 players go under the hammer. They splitted under Pool A (35 players) and Pool B (202 players).

A number of India players and other top Karnataka stars will be up for grabs such as Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, and K Gowtham after being released by their respective franchises.

The players retained

The teams have the option of retaining maximum two players from across both categories, and in a KPL first they also can exercise the RTM card a la IPL. It means the teams can resign a player from the last edition by matching the final bid amount of that player.

Ballari Tuskers: CM Gautam, Devdutt Padikkal.

Bijapur Bulls: Bharath Chipli, K.C Cariappa.

Belagavi Panthers: Shubhang Hegde, Avinash D.

Bengaluru Blasters: V Koushik, Manoj Bhandage.

Hubli Tigers: R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Dubey.

Mysuru Warriors: J Suchith, Vyshak Vijay Kumar.

Shivamogga Lions: Nihal Ullal, Prithviraj Shekhawat.

The purse remaining

Pool A players have a base price of Rs 50,000 while Pool B players have a base price of Rs 10,000. A full squad can have minimum 15 players and maximum 18 players. There is a cap of five for Pool A players in each squad..

Bellari Tuskers: Pool A (Rs 17 lakh), Pool B (Rs 11.8 lakh)

Bijapur Bulls: Poor A (Rs 14.3 lakh), Pool B (Rs 12 lakh)

Belagavi Panthers: Pool A (Rs 14.95 lakh), Pool B (Rs 11.8 lakh)

Bengaluru Blasters: Pool A (Rs 14.4 lakh), Pool B (Rs 12 lakh)

Hubli Tigers: Pool A (Rs 11.3 lakh), Pool B (Rs 12 lakh)

Mysuru Warriors: Pool A (Rs 13.4 lakh), Pool B (Rs 12 lakh)

Shivamogga Lions: Pool A (Rs 18 lakh), Pool B (Rs 10.3 lakh)