Defender Mahinder Singh and raider Manjeet Singh fetched highest bids as category B players in their respective classes on day two of the Pro Kabaddi League player auctions that ended in Mumbai on Tuesday, 9 April.
Mahinder was bought for Rs 80 lakh by Bengaluru Bulls while Manjeet was bought by Puneri Paltans for Rs 63 lakh.
In the all-rounders category Sandeep Narwal was purchased for Rs 89 lakh by U Mumba.
A total of Rs 50 crore were spent by the 12 franchises to buy 200 domestic and foreign players over the two days of the auction
Only two players – Siddharth Desai (Rs 1.45 crore for category A) and Nitin Tomar (Rs 1.20 crore for category A) – fetched over Rs 1 crore in the auction.
They were bought by Telugu Titans and Puneri Paltan, respectively, on the first day of the auction on 8 April.
Among the foreign players, Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh of Iran was the highest paid player with a Rs 77.75 lakh bid on day one of the action.
Season 7 is set to run from 1 July to 9 October featuring 173 domestic and 27 international players.
Siddharth Desai said he jumped with joy when he saw the bid amount by the Titans.
"I jumped with joy when I saw the result of my bid. I come from a humble background, my father is a farmer and I know how difficult it is to become a Kabaddi player. I would like to thank Telugu Titans for believing in me and handing me the opportunity to showcase my talent. Now that I have been sold for such a high price I will make sure I give my 100 per cent and make the team proud," he said.
"Puneri Paltans is home to me, and I am extremely happy that the franchise used the FBM (Final Bid Match) card to retain me in the team. I will take this opportunity to raise my performance level and win for my team. I will give my 100 percent and maintain my fitness level to make sure that Season VII for Puneri Paltans is a successful one," said Tomar who was retained by the Pune franchise.
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