Pro Kabaddi: Big Numbers Ahead of Season 6 Auction on 30-31 May
Schedule of the Pro Kabaddi Auction along with the different new innovations this season.
The auctions for season six of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) will be held in Mumbai on 30 and 31 May with a total of 422 players set to go under the hammer.
Of the 422 players available in the auction pool, 87 are young stars from the league’s Future Kabaddi Heroes Programme (FKH), a nationwide talent scouting programme. There are also 58 overseas players with as many as 14 other countries being represented including Iran, Bangladesh, Japan, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka.
21 Players Retained
Similar to what happened in the IPL auction this January, PKL also sees all its players going back into the common auction pool this season. The twelve teams from last season, however, were allowed to make as many as four retentions and a total of 21 players were held back.
Patna Pirates and Puneri Paltan were the only two teams to retain four players while Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Fortunegiants made three retentions each. Jaipur Pink Panthers, U Mumba and UP Yoddhas chose to relieve their entire rosters from 2017.
‘Elite Retained Players’
- Bengal Warriors: Surjeet Singh and Maninder Singh
- Bengaluru Bulls: Rohit Kumar
- Dabang Delhi: K C Meraj Sheykh
- Gujarat Fortunegiants: Sachin, Sunil Kumar, Mahendra Ganesh Rajput
- Haryana Steelers: Kuldeep Singh
- Jaipur Pink Panthers: None
- Patna Pirates: Pardeep Narwal, Jaideep, Jawahar Dagar, Manish Kumar
- Puneri Paltan: Sandeep Narwal, Rajesh Mondal, More GB, Girish Ernak
- Tamil Thalaivas: Ajay Thakur, Amit Hooda, C. Arun
- Telugu Titans: Nilesh Salunke, Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari
- U Mumba: None
- UP Yoddha: None
Team Composition
Each of the 12 teams in Pro Kabaddi League needs to form a squad of minimum 18 players, with 24 being the upper limit. The total kitty available to them in the auction will be Rs 4 crore with a maximum of 4 foreign players allowed in each team.
The base price of top players in Category A will be Rs 20 lakh with the ‘new young stars’ having a fixed salary of Rs 6.6 lakh.
Base Price Per Category
- Category A – INR 20 Lakh
- Category B – INR 12 Lakh
- Category C – INR 8 Lakh
- Category D – INR 5 Lakh
- New Young Players – fixed salary of INR 6.6 Lakh
Auction Innovations
The PKL this season has introduced the concept of "Final Bid Match", whereby the franchises shall be entitled to match the final bid made by another franchise, for one or at most two players from its season-V squad, in accordance with the guidelines set in the player policy.
Auction Schedule
The PKL auction for 2018 is spread across two days with the action starting at 10am on the 30 May. The 87 players from the ‘new young stars’ programme will be the first to be auctioned.
Between 4pm and 6:30pm is the tentative time for the auction of the 58 overseas players and after that is when the Indian stars take centre stage. Category A players are all expected to be placed in new franchises on 30 May and this will be broadcast LIVE on Star Sports. Rest of the Indian players will be auctioned on 31 May.
PKL’s Future Kabaddi Heroes Programme
The Future Kabaddi Heroes (FKH) programme is the league’s talent scouting programme to foster and nurture future Kabaddi champions. The first phase of the programme saw 3,500 participants from 18 cities across India who were then shortlisted to 240 players in phase 2.
The final list of young stars, available in the auction on 30 May, underwent a one-month training camp in Panvel with focus on physical fitness training and Kabaddi skill enhancement workshops. The 87 players are then drafted under the ‘New Young Player’ category in the auctions.
Follow live updates from the Pro Kabaddi auctions here.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)