Pro Kabaddi League, the festival for every kabaddi fan around the world is all set to keep you glued to your television screens. The bidding for a player pool of 442 players from 14 countries took place on 8th and 9th of April. The nerve-racking league will commence from the 20th July 2019.
The PKL auctions for the seventh season witnessed a number of acmes, here are the top 5 bids in 2019 auction.
1. Siddharth Desai:
The youngster Siddharth Desai who was released by U Mumba was signed by Telugu Titans for 1.45 crore, making him the second most expensive player in the PKL history. After a phenomenal debut in the last season, the 26-year-old Siddharth Desai was bound to be amongst the top picks in the upcoming auctions as he took over the last year’s league with his electrifying raids and became the fastest player to reach 50 raid points.
In his debut match, he scored 15 raid points and was the best raider for his side.
2. Nitin Tomar:
The 24-year-old Nitin Tomar rose to prominence after 2016 Kabaddi World Cup when he rescued India in a Do-or-Die raid against Iran. In just a couple of years, Nitin Tomar has become a valuable player of the Pro Kabaddi League. Over the years his game has evolved with him polishing his all-around skills along the way.
Puneri Paltan had released its entire roster going into the auction with an aim of starting from the scratch under the new coach Anup Kumar. The franchise spent a whopping amount of 1.20 crore and used its Final Bid Match (FBM) to hold on to Nitin Tomar. It made him the second costliest player in the PKL 2019 auction.
3. Rahul Chaudhari:
Rahul Chaudhari a prominent Kabaddi player who kicked off his journey as a defender and gradually went on to become a full-fledged raider of all time. He is the first player and raider to score more than 700 points in PKL and is league’s all-time top scorer. Tamil Thalaivas bagged him for 94 lakhs to form a deadly raiding partnership with the Tamil Thalaivas captain Ajay Thakur.
4. Monu Goyat:
Monu Goyat debuted in PKL for Bengal Warriors in season 4 but was the find of the season for Panta Pirates in their season 5 campaign. He became the most expensive player in PKL history last season as he was signed by Haryana Steelers for a mammoth 1.51 crores.
This year he was grabbed for 93 lakhs by UP Yodhas for the coming season. His reflexes and the ability to anticipate makes him a tricky raider to deal with. He made his debut for the Indian Kabaddi team in 2018 at the Kabaddi Masters held in Dubai. The running hand touch is his signature move which makes scoring points a swift drift for him.
5. Sandeep Narwal:
Sandeep Narwal kicked off his PKL career with Patna Pirates. He was an essential member of the team for the first three seasons and even captained the Pirates in the second season and guided them to the semi-finals of the tournament.
In 2019 PKL auction Sandeep Narwal was signed by U Mumba for 89 lakh. Being one of the most reputed, dynamic and tough defenders in PKL, Sandeep Narwal uses his signature move to block raiders by placing himself in front of the raider to form a human wall between the raider and the touchline. He is the second most expensive defender also holds the record for the most number of Super Tackles in PKL history.
He has embarked his name as the second most expensive defender in the PKL history and also holds the record for the most number of Super Tackles in PKL.