Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 28 : Defending champions of the Madhya Pradesh League T20, formerly known as the Jabalpur Lions, will now compete as the Jabalpur Royal Lions in the 2025 edition of the tournament.
At the Players Draft held in Indore on April 27, the champions strategically bolstered their lineup by signing several notable players, including the icon player Saransh Jain, who was the Captain of the Jabalpur team last year, which ended up as the winners of the previous season, a release said.
At the draft, there were "several marquee signings" by the defending champions, including Rahul Batham, Abhishek Bhandari, and Siddarth Pattidar, who made a considerable impact in the previous domestic season with consistent performances.
"While the name and management may have changed, the mission remains the same - to emerge as the Champions of the Madhya Pradesh League," the release said.
Though Jabalpur Royal Lions did not retain any players from season 1, at the Player's Draft, the team picked up Saransh Jain again and successfully assembled a full roster of 16 players, including the following:
Saransh Jain
Rahul Batham
Ritik Tada
Siddarth Pattidar
Ritesh Shakya
Dharmesh Patel
Pankaj Patel
Prabhanshu Shukla
Taanishq Yadav
Ankit Singh Kushwaha
Sanjog Nijjer
Akarsh Singh Parihar
Abhishek Bhandari
Atul Kushwaha
Aheer Pratap Singh
Anubhav Agarwal
Besides the 16 players drafted into the team, trials will be held separately in Jabalpur to select two players and include them in the Jabalpur Royal Lions. This endeavour will further strengthen the efforts of Econexis to identify and promote local talent.

The league starts on May 27.