A total of 422 players will go under the hammer when the two-day auction for the upcoming sixth season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) gets underway in Mumbai on 30 May.
Of the 422 players, 58 will be overseas players while 87 players will be coming from the Future Kabaddi Heroes Programme (FKH), a nationwide talent scouting programme.
Besides India, the auction will witness player representation from 14 other countries like Iran, Bangladesh, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and others.
Out of the 12 franchises, nine have chosen their elite Retained Players and the remaining 3 will construct their teams from scratch.
The 13-week long sixth season of the league will begin on 19 October. Here’s a look at the top five players to watch in the PKL auctions.
Players Retained by Franchises:
Bengal Warriors - Surjeet Singh and Maninder Singh
Bengaluru Bulls - Rohit Kumar
Dabang Delhi KC - Meraj Sheykh
Gujarat Fortunegiants - Sachin, Sunil Kumar and Mahendra Rajput
Haryana Steelers - Kuldeep Singh
Patna Pirates - Pardeep Narwal, Jaideep, Jawahar Dagar and Manish Kumar
Puneri Paltan - Sandeep Narwal, Rajesh Mondal, More GB and Girish Ernak
Tamil Thalaivas - Ajay Thakur, Amit Hooda and C Arun
Telugu Titans - Nilesh Salunke and Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari
1. Rahul Chaudhari
Rahul Chaudhari has been the biggest star of the Pro Kabaddi League. He has recorded the highest number of raid points – 666 – in the history of the tournament. He played for the Telugu Titans from the first season, but he has not been retained by the franchise for the sixth season.
The Uttar Pradesh Kabaddi player could be the most expensive buy at the auctions this year.
2. Kashiling Adake
Kashiling Adake has recorded the fifth highest number of raid points, 494, in the Pro Kabaddi League. The Maharashtra player, who played for Dabang Delhi in the first four seasons of the PKL, played for U Mumba in the last season.
Adake is the first player to score 15 points in the first half of a Pro Kabaddi League match.
3. Manjeet Chhillar
Manjeet Chhillar has recorded the highest number of tackle points, 243, in the Pro Kabaddi League. Chhillar, who was part of the 2016 World Cup winning Indian team, played for Bengaluru Bulls in the first two seasons, Puneri Paltan in the third and fourth seasons and then Jaipur Pink Panthers in the fifth season. He was the captain for all three teams.
4. Surender Nada
Surender Nada has been one of the best defenders in the Pro Kabaddi League. He has recorded the second highest number of tackle points – 218 – in five seasons of the competition. Nada has always found a place in the top 10 defenders list in each of the seasons.
Nada finished as the best defender in the last season with 80 tackle points, while playing for Haryana Steelers.
5. Fazel Atrachali
Fazel Atrachali has been one of the most influential overseas players in the Pro Kabaddi League. The Iranian is the eleventh best defender in terms of tackle points. He has recorded 152 points in the competition so far.
Atrachali finished as the ninth best defender with 57 tackle points for the Gujarat Fortune Giants in the last season.
(With inputs from IANS)
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