MUMBAI: The Pro Kabaddi League Season VI auction was expected to be bigger than ever before, with 422 players going under the hammer in a span of 2 days.
For the first time in the tournament’s history, teams had to first pick from the New Young Players category which was created courtesy the Future Kabaddi Heroes program that had taken place in February.
Besides this, much like the IPL’s ‘Right to Match card’, PKL came up with its very own ‘Final Bid Match’ (FBM) card. This could be used by any franchise to buy back a player it couldn’t or chose not to retain earlier by paying the highest amount bid for him.
The franchises had Rs 40 million as their purse to spend from, the same as the last season.
However, as with most auctions, it sprung up surprises as well as many winners and losers from it.
Manu Goyat’s may have played second fiddle to Pardeep Narwal in defending champions Patna Pirates’ title win last season, yet the raider will become a household name after being bid for a stunning Rs 15.1 million by Haryana Steelers. After all, he will be paid more than Indian football skipper, Sunil Chhetri each season which makes him the most expensive non-cricketing sportsperson in Indian professional leagues.
Becoming the most expensive buy of the tournament’s history, Goyat’s raiding skills are surely going to be compared with the value he brings to the Steelers. The JSW-owned franchise may not believe he is overpriced, but with riches come expectations. Handling that will be Goyat’s major challenge, considering his relative inexperience.
According to Telugu Titans, the second most expensive player of the auction and their champion raider across the 5 seasons of the PKL, Rahul Chaudhari did not want to be paid less by being retained. As a result, he took the risk of going back into the auction pool. The move worked as teams bid for him frantically, until it all came down to the Titans using the FBM card on him at a price of Rs 12.9 million.
Indian raiders attracted the highest bids. Nitin Tomar, who was the most expensive buy in 2017, may have switched base again from UP Yoddhas to Puneri Paltan, but saw a rise in his price from Rs 9.3 million to Rs 11.5 million, making him the joint third-most expensive pick alongside Deepak Niwas Hooda, who was picked up at the same price by an aggressive Jaipur Pink Panthers think-tank.
Rishank Devadiga’s rise was evident when his value shot up by 60% this season, retained for Rs 11.1 million by UP Yoddhas, who successfully bought him back after paying him Rs 4.5 million last season.
However, in what is a victory for the Pro Kabaddi League and defenders, Iran’s Fazel Atrachali saw his stocks shoot up as well to Rs 10 million this season from Rs 5.5 million in 2017. Atrachali created the history by becoming the first player to reach the landmark, becoming the most expensive overseas player in 2018 as well as defender. He will be heading to U Mumba, a side which will also be coached by an Iranian, Golan Raza.
One of Atrachali’s national teammates and another defender, Abozar Mohajermighani will be paid Rs 7.6 million by Telugu Titans, his value shooting up from Rs 5 million in 2017, which was the most then for a foreigner.
When it comes to top Indian defenders, Surender Nada’s value continued to be the biggest in the league as the Steelers bought him back at Rs 7.5 million. However, his partnership with Mohit Chhillar will end as he was snapped up by Jaipur Pink Panthers for Rs 5.8 million. Chhillar’s addition will be crucial for Jaipur’s chances since his presence alongside the likes of Hooda and Sandeep Dhull (who was bought for Rs 6.6 million) is expected to shore up their defence, which was their Achilles heel in what was a dismal last season for them.
Although there were lesser known names auctioned on Day 2, yet this year’s proved that some players did not need a high base price to have a bright future. Indian defender Mahender Singh was amongst the top 10 tackle points scorers the last season. Back then, he was priced at Rs 2 million. This season, the Bengaluru Bulls bought him back at Rs 4 million.
But there are raiders who saw a greater rise in their value. Pawan Kumar was priced at Rs 1.38 million by Gujarat FortuneGiants the last season. Yet it was the Bulls once again, who went all out to avail his services at Rs 5.28 million. He was the most expensive player to be bought in Category C. Haryana Steelers, who had paid a mere Rs. 2.1 million the last season for raider Prashanth Kumar Rai, had to concede him to UP Yoddhas, who aggressively bid Rs 7.9 million for him.
However, the Steelers ensured that they used their FBM card to retain Vikash Khandola, who was one of the finds of Season 5, for Rs 4.7 million. It is a jump of 210% for Khandola, having been paid a mere Rs 1.52 million in 2017.
Tamil Thalaivas, who were unusually passive for most of the auction, woke up to use their FBM card for their defender C Arun at a price of Rs 3.6 million, which is nearly three times more than what he was paid by them the last season.
Gujarat seemed to be keen on going for the youth by purchasing defender Ruturaj Koravi for Rs 3.04 million in the same category, rewarding him for his impressive performances in national championships off late. Also buying the likes of K Prapanjan and Parvesh Bhainswal under Rs 4 million from Category A means that the duo is expected to have a greater role with the franchise this time.
However, as much as the top buys list can go on and on, there were many who lost out shockingly due to various reasons.
The biggest of them all was early on Day 1 when Rakesh Kumar, the veteran raider who has played for U Mumba and Patna Pirates in the past going unsold.
Anup Kumar, considered to be Kabaddi’s ‘Captain Cool’, leading India and U Mumba in the past without question, found few takers this time. Although Jaipur may find him to be a bargain buy and could appoint him as captain this season, Anup’s stocks have fallen massively since he was purchased for a mere Rs 3 million. For all his experience and calculative mentality, he would have to revive himself this season to stand a chance in the next one to be sold big. Has age taken a toll on him?
The same question can be asked to Manjeet Chhillar, who has been as good as Anup’s right hand when playing for India and has been a PKL star over the years. However, according to more than one franchise executive, it is more about his temperamental issues and attitude towards the game and team management that have made franchises disinterested in him.
Manjeet was eventually bought by Tamil Thalaivas at his base price of Rs 2 million, making him virtually the Chris Gayle of this season. The star all-rounder was the second most expensive Indian player in Season 5, as Jaipur acquired him for Rs 7.55 million back then.
Another now ex-Jaipur superstar, Jasvir Singh’s raiding skills have been overshadowed by many with youngsters coming to the fore. Much like Manjeet, he will be teaming up with him at the Thalaivas at a price of Rs 1.2 million, a massive drop from his previous value of Rs 5.1 million with the Pink Panthers.
Selvamani wasn’t favoured much by franchises either so Jaipur can consider itself fortunate to have retained him at a mere Rs 1.5 million, having had to fork up Rs 7.3 million last year for his services.
Over the years, Wazir Singh has been impressive and the old warhorse. But he faced a fate similar to Selvamani’s this time, staying with the Haryana Steelers but at a mere Rs 2 million, as against Rs 4.4 million last season. Should he be named captain, it would be interesting if his performances shoot up to impress franchises again.
Dabang Delhi considered Ravinder Pahal as their defensive backbone before losing him to Bengaluru Bulls in Season V, a move which proved to be disastrous even as he was paid Rs 5 million for the shift in allegiance. Pahal’s average performance did not entice franchises this time, even as Delhi won him back for 2018 at Rs 2 million.
A former Delhi and U Mumba raider, Kashiling Adake was expected to draw massive bids. Yet none of his previous teams wanted him back, let alone bid for him and it was Bengaluru Bulls who finally snapped him up for Rs 3.2 million. The Bulls could be happy with their choice, but falling from the Rs 4.8 million that U Mumba paid in 2017 must have been difficult to digest for the Maharashtrian player.
Shabeer Bappu, another ex-U Mumba star, did not live up to his value at the franchise in 2017, having been paid Rs 4.5 million. And being 31-years-old doesn’t help. These could have led to him being sold to Dabang Delhi for only Rs 1.55 million in 2018.
Lastly, in what was another steal by Jaipur, defender Bajirao Hodage was bought for Rs 1.46 million, paying him significantly lesser than what Delhi did in 2017, at Rs 4.45 million.
While all the teams did manage to remain in the Rs 40 million purse limit, having bought between 16-20 players on average made many of them not go for all their desired players. Besides, the value of most players skyrocketed this season and is expected to go up further in 2019. With Kabaddi being a 7-player contact sport and chances of injuries being high, it will be interesting to see if the franchises unite to convince the tournament organizers to up the purse limit next season.
