Indian Cricketers Vinay Kumar and Manish Pandey feature in the list of players retained by the seven Karnataka Premier League franchises for 2018 edition of the competition. With auctions scheduled to take place on July 21, all the franchises were given the option to retain a maximum of 4 players each. There were 28 players in all who could be retained, and the franchises made full use of their quota by retaining all 28. Pleasantly for the administrators, not all retained cricketers are Pool A players, which in a way indicates the health of talent pipeline in the state. 

The franchises made their decision very wisely and considered availability form and suitability in retaining the likes of Vinay Kumar (Hubli Tigers), Manish Pandey and Stuart Binny (both Belagavi Panthers). They also made tough calls and overlooked Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, K Goutham and Shreyas Gopal for several reasons. 

These highly talented youngsters will no doubt be among the main attractions once the auction starts. The rest of the squads will be finalized at the auction before which the Franchises will be provided with a list of players, categorized into Pool A and Pool B, to choose from.

In all a squad has to comprise of minimum 15 players and maximum 18 players. Besides the players picked up at the auction, each team has to mandatorily include two players from their respective catchment areas. A sum of Rs 20,000 is allocated for this over and above the Rs 30 lakh ceiling at the Player Auction. The Rs 30 lakh includes the amounts to be paid to the retained players.

The league is set to kick-start on the scheduled date of August 15. 

(Inputs from SportsKeeda)