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Pro Kabaddi League season 8: Over 190 players sold for ₹48.22 crore
Raider Pardeep Narwal emerged as the highest-paid kabaddi player in the PKL's history as the three-day auction witnessed teams spend ₹48.22 crore in total across various categories
Over 190 players were sold to 12 franchise teams with as many as 10 Final Bid Match (FBM) cards being used in the auction for the eighth season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), slated to take place in December, the organizers said on Wednesday.
Raider Pardeep Narwal emerged as the highest-paid kabaddi player in the PKL's history as the three-day auction witnessed teams spend ₹48.22 crore in total across various categories. Narwal smashed a record after he was bought by UP Yoddha for ₹1.65 crore, while Siddharth Desai was retained by the Telugu Titans through FBM card for ₹1.30 crore.
Rahul Chaudhari will now play for the Puneri Paltan. Tamil Thalaivas successfully bid for raider Manjeet, who joined them from Puneri Paltan for ₹92 lakh. Rohit Gulia, an all-rounder from Category A, was sold to Haryana Steelers for ₹83 lakh, a significant jump from his ₹25 lakh price tag with Gujarat Giants in season 7.
Some other big buys included Sachin (Patna Pirates) for ₹84 lakh and Chandran Ranjit (Bengaluru Bulls) for ₹80 lakh. A stand-out from Category B was the purchase of raider Arjun Deshwal who was snapped up by Jaipur Pink Panthers for ₹96 lakh.
Puneri Paltan successfully retained raider Nitin Tomar by using FBM card for ₹61 lakh while all-rounder Sandeep Narwal was snapped up by Dabang Delhi KC for ₹60 lakh. The Delhi franchise also bought defender Jeeva Kumar for ₹44 lakh. Veteran raider Ajay Thakur also found himself a new home with Dabang Delhi KC who bought the former India captain for ₹46 lakh.
Over 22 overseas players were sold on the second day. Iranian all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh was the most expensive foreign signing as three-time champions Patna Pirates bought him for ₹31 lakh. Patna Pirates also used one of their two FBM cards to retain Republic of Korea's raider Jang Kun Lee for ₹20.5 lakh. Iranians were in high demand as defending champions Bengal Warriors bought defender Abozar Mohajermighani for ₹30.5 lakh.
Telugu Titans acquired the services of Japanese defender Tetsuro Abe for ₹10 lakh. Among Category C players, Sandeep Kandola emerged as the highest bid. He was bought for ₹59.5 lakh by the Telugu Titans. Puneri Paltan bought Sombir for ₹34.5 lakh while U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers spent ₹32 lakh and ₹20 lakh on Rinku Narwal and Amit.
A total of 10 New Young Players (NYP) were picked up at the auction. Narwal said he never expected to be the highest paid player. “It has been memorable five seasons with Patna Pirates, and now I am looking forward to representing UP Yoddha,” he said.
