Pro Kabaddi League 2017: 10 costliest buys from players auction

The players’ auction for the fifth edition of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) sprang up few surprises Day 1 on Monday (May 22). Here are the top buys..

New Delhi, May 23: The players’ auction for the fifth edition of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) sprang up few surprises Day 1 on Monday (May 22). As Kabaddi is getting immensely popular amongst Indian audiences, since the advent of the Pro Kabaddi League, the players are now raking in the moolah in the auctions.

Franchises are now indulging in fierce bids to snap young as well as experienced players. The auction on Day 1 came as a surprise when raider Nitin Tohar emerged as the top buy after he drew the costliest bid for a whopping Rs 93 lakh by GMR-owned Team Uttar Pradesh.

Tomar was part of India’s World Cup-winning squad in Ahmedabad last year was followed by star all-rounder Manjeet Chillar and defender Surjeet Singh. Among the retained players, South Korean Jang Kun Lee was retained by Bengal Warriors Rs 80.3 lakh while Bengaluru Bulls retained Asish Kumar. Dabang Delhi reained the services of Meraj Sheykh, Patna Pirates retained Pardep Narwal while Deepak Hooda will continue to serve Puneri Paltan. Rahul Chaudhari and India captain Anup Kumar were retained by their respective franchises Telugu Titans and U Mumba, respectively. Jaipur was the lone team to get all fresh faces. The fifth season of the PKL will see four new franchises while VIVO will be the new title sponsors for the next five years.

The four new franchises will be represented by Iquest Enterprises Private Limited (Consortium) (Tamil Nadu), Adani Group (Gujarat), GMR Group (Uttar Pradesh) and JSW Group (Haryana).