Bengaluru: It wouldn’t be too far off the mark to say that the Nawayath Cricket League auction was as big an event as the tournament proper. While players are the decisive factors on the field, owners and strategists come into play during the auction, where rather than capabilities with bat and ball, it’s points that talks. Teams could splurge on the big, glamorous players or choose to import one the less-heralded options into their systems. The schemes that the teams adopt at the auctions and the players they buy are good indicators of how they will approach the game once the on-field action begins.

The auction, described as a historic occasion for Nawayath cricket by NCB, engaged the eight franchise owners in spirited bidding for over seven hours, taking the centrestage by grabbing some top players.

Tarique Bangali’s 330 points price turned out to be the biggest single bid. Though it seemed like Mr. Tarique Bangali from HWA an unknown face comparatively to Mr. Rahil Chawre from SUNSHINE but topped the bidding record of NCL. Surprises were in store in the course of the long auction.

Clearly, all the eight franchise owners were keen and eager to have Rahil Chawre in their team, but eventually, RISING STARS, notwithstanding the constraints of a 900 points cap a franchise can spend on the players, took the bold move to pick Rahil Chawre for 300 points leaving all 7 owners maximum bid to below 300 points.

Thrilling experience

From Owners, managers, guests to players all where super excited, motivated and happy for the auction the way processed and high end discipline. After the auction, franchise owners and guests Sameer Momin, Yasir Damda, Abdul Basit , Tabish Ruknuddin and many more described it as a thrilling experience and added that the NCL would boost Nawayath cricket and unite the community.

“Firstly I need to congratulate the smart guys for doing the wonderful job and NCB committee. We will try and support so that it will become a viable event for the Nawayath youth in Bangalore. The culture of sport has to be brought into this community as professional as possible and I`m soo impressed with unique auction system. Hope you guys will come during upcoming BCL and display this idea of auction and points system to Mr. Mubasshir Hallare because you all are well organized, young, you have guts to do it in well-disciplined manner. Wish you all the best for the event, may Allah bless. Thank you very much and whata Dramaa” said Mr. Sameer Momin

`Assalamualaikum, First I would like to thank organizer for their splendid job. To give a valuable time for this apart from regular schedule, I really appreciate this and second most important thing I found is getting community together be it Bhatkalis, Manki or Murdeshwar to come in a single platform. We should have these type of events most often so that we know each other and can strengthen our community` Yasir Damda

All the owners have strategically bid for the players, keeping in mind their quality, endorsement value and glamour quotient and finally the team composition.

“The NCL will enhance all the events of Nawayath Community and will play a vital role in gathering and uniting this community. This is the second landmark event, the first was in May 2016 when the NCB came up with Nawayath Football League (NFL)” said Shuaib SM, the NCL governing council member.

The teams to be played in NCL ,charge smashers, Alibaba Strikers, Arham Warriors, Comfy CC, Nashville Predators, Nawayath Strikers, RA Riders and Rising stars.

NCB players are those players who are member of Nawayath Club Bangalore and are resident of Bangalore. The owner will have an option of picking one NCB player before the auction.

The inaugural NCL will be played on January 21 & 22 and comprises 15 games played over

2 days in 2 different grounds together. Each team will play 3 league games, with the tournament leading to semi-finals and final.