India’s Test vice-captain KL Rahul went unsold on Friday despite being one of the biggest names available in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2026 auction.Rahul, who scored 593 runs in 14 matches for Delhi Capitals during IPL 2026, was the second player to come in the auction. However, none of the six franchises bid for him in the opening round as his availability for the tournament is uncertain. The 33-year-old participated in the auction with a base price of Rs 2 lakh.Rahul is currently part of India’s squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh, and has been named vice-captain. He is also expected to feature in India’s upcoming international assignments, including the Afghanistan ODI series and England tour.With a packed international schedule over the next three months, franchises were reluctant to invest in a player who could not be guaranteed to feature in the tournament.Rahul was among the most talked about names ahead of the auction, but his unsold status was linked to his availability rather than his form. After completing a two-month IPL campaign with Delhi Capitals, he is focusing on national team duties and juggling his workload with multiple international commitments.Several Karnataka players grabbed attention at the auction, including Devdutt Padikal, Mayank Aggarwal, Vijay Kumar Veshik, Shreyas Gopal, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey. The squad is limited to a minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 18 acquired through the auction, along with two mandatory catchment area players.The fifth edition of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 will be played from June 12 to July 12 in Mysore, Hubli and Bangalore.
