Top 5 Expensive bids of the Season: Teams had identified their grey areas and had made a strategy to counter it. This year’s Pro Kabaddi League auction, thus, saw some high amount biddings in the run for getting good players by the team owners. The franchise owners spent a whopping amount of Rs. 50 Crores to acquire both Indian and foreign players into their teams.
The auction was held on 8th and 9th April this year in Mumbai. The bidding event saw a total of 442 players including 27 foreign players going under the hammer during the auction that lasted for two days. Only two players managed to fetch Crore mark and both are Indians.
The most expensive foreign player Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh who fetched a massive amount of Rs. 77.75 lakhs has been acquired by Bengal Warriors.
Let’s take a look at the list of top 5 most expensive players in this season’s Pro Kabaddi League auction:
#1. Siddharth Sirish Desai (Telugu Titans)
Price: 1.45 crore
The raider made his Pro Kabaddi debut last season with U Mumba. This year, he bagged a whopping amount of Rs. 1.45 Crores making him the second most expensive player in the history of Pro Kabaddi. Following his terrific performance in the last season, Telugu Titans left no stone unturned in their pursuit of Siddharth ‘Bahubali’ Desai. Siddharth Sirish Desai had already broken the record of being the fastest player to score 50 points, and everyone saw what he could bring to the table.
#2. Nitin Tomar (Puneri Paltan)
Price: 1.20 crore
He has been a very consistent performer in the journey of Pro Kabaddi League, albeit he has missed a number of matches due to injury. Nitin Tomar was retained by the Puneri Paltan as they played their Final Bid Match (FBM) card to acquire him for a whopping amount of Rs. 1.20 Crores. Due to his consistency and innate ability to execute big raids, he has fetched good bidding prices in almost every year’s auction. He was the most expensive player of Pro Kabaddi Season 5. However, Puneri Paltan would be cautious about his injuries as he has proven to be vulnerable to injuries, which saw him miss a large part of last season.
#3. Rahul Chaudhari (Tamil Thalaivas)
Price: 94 lakhs
Rahul Chaudhari has been a very consistent performer since the inception of Pro Kabaddi in 2014, earning him the nickname ‘Raid Machine’. He has played for Telugu Titans since the first season, but this year he moved to Tamil Thalaivas and the Chennai based franchise welcomed him with the final price of Rs. 94 lakhs. He has dominated in almost all the seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League. He is a formidable raider who will now look to start fresh after joining a new team since the inaugural season. He will be seen donning Tamil Thalaivas jersey.
#4. Monu Goyat (UP Yoddha)
Price: 93 lakhs
The raider has been bought by UP Yoddha for Rs. 93 lakhs this year seeing his all-round skills and personal figures. Last year, Monu Goyat made the headlines for being the most expensive player in Pro Kabaddi League history. Haryana Steelers spent a whopping amount of Rs. 1.51 Crores on him in Pro Kabaddi Season 6, however, his season was underwhelming compared to the price paid for him as he managed just 164 points in 20 games and finished as the 11th highest points earner. He was released by the Haryana based franchise which made him available for the auction and UP Yoddha were quick to pounce on him.
#5. Sandeep Narwal (U Mumba)
Price: 93 lakh
Known as the “Beast”, Sandeep Narwal does not let his opponents score a point easily as the star all-rounder has it all under his sleeve. He was a part of the winning Patna Pirates team in Season 3. This year, he has been bought by U Mumba for the final price of Rs. 93 lakhs against his base price of Rs. 30 lakhs. The 25-year-old will be the leading all-rounder for his team this year.
