Pro Kabaddi Auction 2019: Photo from inside the auction room. (Source: PKL)Siddharth Desai became the second most expensive player in Pro Kabaddi history with Telugu Titans snapping his services for Rs 1.45 crore during the two-day Auction. His final figure fell short of Monu Goyat’s Rs 1.51 crore from last year but emerged as the highest in this edition. Behind him was Nitin Tomar who was retained by Puneri Paltan for Rs 1.20 crore by way of their FBM (Final Bid Match) card.
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In Domestic Category B, Manjeet moved to Puneri Paltan for Rs 63 lakhs and K Prapanjan to Bengal Warriors for Rs 55.5 lakhs.
In total, Rs 50.91 crores were spent by the 12 franchises – with a purse of Rs 4.4 crore – on 200 players. A breakdown of the PKL Auction – in numbers:
- 173 domestic players and 27 international players were sold at the Pro Kabaddi 2019 Auction
- Rs 50.91 crore were spent on 200 players at an average of Rs 25,45,000 per player
- Rs 4.41 crore of the overall spending went on overseas players (Rs 441.25 lakhs)
- Siddharth Desai was the most expensive buy at Rs 1.45 crore followed by Nitin Tomar being retained for Rs 1.20 crore. Rahul Chaudhari went to Tamil Thalaivas for Rs 94 lakhs with Monu Goyat (Rs 93 lakhs) and Sandeep Narwal (Rs 89 lakhs) rounding off the top-5 domestic players.
- Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh, in Category C, was the biggest buy in overseas players at Rs 77.75 lakhs. Fellow Iranian Abozar Mohajermighani joins Telugu Titans for Rs 75 lakhs; South Korean Jang Kun Lee will be part of Patna Pirates for Rs 40 lakhs; Mohammad Esmaiel Maghsodhu will also ply his trade at Patna Pirates for Rs 35 lakhs and Dong Geon Lee rounds off the top-five most expensive overseas players at Rs 25 lakhs by moving to U Mumba
- Jang Kun Lee would be part of a new franchise for the first time – having played all six seasons with Bengal Warriors
- 15 players by using the FBM card with Dabang Delhi, Puneri Paltan, Telugu Titans and UP Yoddha using it for two players each
- UP Yoddha spent the least at the auction with their purse remaining at Rs 23.42 lakhs and Telugu Titans had spent the most with their purse lighter at Rs 8.09 lakhs
- Patna Pirates, Telugu Titans and U Mumba bought the most overseas players with 3. The limit to international players stood at four each
- Bengal Warriors added the most Indian players to their squad at 17. Dabang Delhi and Patna Pirates added the least at 13
- With a minimum squad size of 18 and maximum of 25, Bengal Warriors have the largest post-auction squad with 19 members. Jaipur Pink Panthers have 18 with Bengaluru Bulls, Tamil Thalaivas, Telugu Titans and U Mumba all on 17. Teams can add more players from the New Young Players (NYP) programme
