Bengaluru: Prominent Karnataka state stars such as Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal and Manish Pandey are among 700 cricketers who will be up for grabs during the player auction here on Saturday, ahead of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20.

This year’s tournament will be held at a single venue — the M Chinnaswamy Stadium — from August 14 to 30.

Mangaluru Dragons and Shivamogga Lions have been added to the tournament, expanding the number of participating teams to six.

The existing teams are defending champions Gulbarga Mystics, runners-up Bengaluru Blasters, Mysuru Warriors and Hubli Tigers.

Each of those franchises will have a purse of Rs 50 lakh and they will have to purchase a minimum of 16 players and the squad strength should not exceed 18.

Players will be slotted into four categories. While the Category A will feature India and IPL players, the Category B will have all senior players who have played BCCI state tournaments such as the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

The Category C will consist of players from all other BCCI tournaments, and Category D is reserved for all registered players of KSCA.

BK Sampath Kumar, the commissioner of Maharaja Trophy and KSCA vice president said, “Last edition was a tremendous success. We saw many young players make the most of the opportunity. We want to see more youngsters from Karnataka showcase their potential.”