Punit Balan Group’s ‘Kolhapur Tuskers’ raring to go in Maharashtra Premier League’s Season 3; new faces find place in the team, along with regular players

Pune, 18 April 2025: Punit Balan Group’s (PBG) ‘Kolhapur Tuskers’ team is ready for ‘Season 3’ of the popular Maharashtra Premier League (MPL). An auction to select players for the MPL took place in the city, in which PBG has also given opportunity to talented new faces, along with regular players.

The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) started the Maharashtra Premier League on the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2023. Six teams named after Pune, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, Sambhaji Nagar, Nashik and Solapur are part of the MPL. Young Entrepreneur and PBG President Punit Balan’s ‘Kolhapur Tuskers’ Team is included in them.

Meanwhile, the auction to select players happened for Season 3 of the MPL in Pune on Thursday (April 17). PBG Kolhapur Tuskers retained 11 old players and included 18 new players in the team by taking part in the auction. PBG Kolhapur Tuskers team will have 29 players. Thus, it has proved to be the ‘Super Team’ in the MPL. Rajneesh Gurbani from the team fetched the highest bid of Rs 5.20 lakh. PBG won the bid to include him in their team.

PBG Kolhapur Tuskers Team

Old players: Rahul Tripathi (Skipper), Ankeet Bawne, Atharv Dakway, Atman Pore, Siddharth Mhatre, Shrikant Mundhe (Vice-Captain), Shreyas Chavan, Sachin Dhas, Nihal Tusamad, Sumit Markali

New players: Rajneesh Gurbani, Atharv Vanve, Digvijay Jadhav, Anand Thenge, Deepak Dangi, Bhargav Pathak, Hardik Kurangale, Vedant Patil, Aryan Shah, Vishant More, Sumit Dhengre, Ayush Ubhe, Rituraj Virkar, Shubham Mane, Nilay Newaskar, Rajveer Jagtap, Dilip Malviya and Sunil Yadav.

“Our ‘Kolhapur Tuskers’ Team performed well in the past two seasons of the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL). We reached the finals last year. But the elements did not support us. Now, Kolhapur Tuskers Team is ready for Season 3. We have given opportunity to talented and promising young players in our team. I hope that these players will not only contribute to the massive success of the Kolhapur Team but will also find a place in Team India and earn a name for the country.”

– (Punit Balan, Owner, Kolhapur Tuskers & President, PBG)

“The ‘Maharashtra Premier League’ (MPL) will be organised with enthusiasm this year too. It is an honest effort to give opportunity to players from every nook and corner of Maharashtra. Moreover, we will try to connect more and more viewers with the League. The Maharashtra Premier League gets a good response in digital media as compared to leagues from other States. We are sure the response will grow this year.”

– Rohit Pawar (MLA & President, Maharashtra Cricket Association)