Star all-rounder Manjeet Chillar and defender Surjeet Singh emerged the costliest players to be sold for a whopping Rs 75.5 lakh and Rs 73 lakh respectively in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) auctions here on Monday.
Manjeet was bought by Jaipur Pink Panther, while Bengal Warriors bagged the services of the Surjeet and also bought all-rounder Ran Singh for Rs 47.5 lakh for the upcoming fifth season of the tournament.
Manjeet was a member of the World Cup-winning squad in Ahmedabad last year. He used to ply his trade for Bengaluru Bulls before moving to Puneri Paltans in the earlier seasons of the PKL.
South Korean Jan Kun-lee didn't join the auction and was retained by Bengal Warriors for Rs 80.3 lakh but in the auctions the most expensive buy so far is Manjeet.
Among other all-rounders in the domestic Category A of elite players, Rajesh Narwal was bought by Team Uttar Pradesh for Rs 69 lakh.
Jaipur Panther owner Abhishek Bachchan tried his best to retain Rajesh but the new franchise from UP pipped the rest of the competition.
Puneri Paltan succeeded in roping star all-rounder Sandeep Narwal for Rs 66 lakh. Narwal played the last season for Telugu Titans and will now be seen in Pune colours.
U Mumba then succeeded in catching another big fish in Kuldeep Singh for Rs 51.5 lakh. He had earlier played for Jaipur before going to defending champions Patna Pirates until 2016.
All-rounder Rakesh Kumar, who earlier played for U Mumba and Patna, was bought by the Telugu Titans for Rs 45 lakh.
Among the defenders, last season's second best tackler Amit Hooda emerged the second costliest and was bought by Tamil Nadu for a whopping Rs 63 lakh. The Sachin Tendulkar-owned franchise also bought Anil Kumar for Rs 21.5 lakh.
Jeeva Kumar was the third highest among the defenders and was bought by Team UP for Rs 52 lakh.
Iranian players were also most sought after players, with defender Abozar Mohajermighani being sold at a whopping Rs 50 lakh to Team Gujarat. Following Abozar are his national teammates Abolfazel Maghsodlo, Farhad Rahimi, Hadi Oshtorok and Mohammad Maghsoudlou, who were bought by various franchises here.
Defender Abolfazel was the second most expensive player so far in the auctions, and was bought by Dabang Delhi for Rs 31.8 lakh. Defender Farhad went to the Telugu Titans for Rs 29 lakh while all-rounder Hadi was purchased by U Mumba for Rs 18.6 lakh.
Star defender Mohit Chillar, who was also a member of the World Cup winning team went for Rs 46.5 lakh to Haryana.
Former Patna Pirates skipper Dharmaraj Cherlathan went for Rs 46 lakh to Puneri Paltan, who also bought Ernak for Rs 33.50 lakh.
Patna splurged Rs 42.5 lakh for hiring Sachin Shingade besides purchasing Vishal Mane for Rs 36.5 lakh.
Dabang Delhi bought Nilesh Shinde for Rs 35.5 lakh while Joginder Singh Narwal went to U Mumba for Rs 25 lakh.
Rohit Rana was bought by Telugu Titans for Rs 27.5 lakh while Sandeep Dhul was the only Indian to go unsold in this year's auction and was pushed to the reserves list.
Among others, Thailand raider Khomsan Thongkham was bought for 20.40 Lakhs by Team Haryana. Thongkham was the highest raider for his team in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup.
Bangladeshi defender Ziaur Rahman was bought by Puneri Paltan for Rs 16.6 lakh while his national teammate Sulieman Kabir went to Team Uttar Pradesh for Rs 12.6 lakh.
South Korean all-rounder Donggyu Kim was bought by Puneri Paltan for Rs eight lakh along with Japanese all-rounder Takamitsu Kono for the same price.
U Mumba also bought South Korean all-rounder Yongjoo Ok Korea for Rs 8.10 lakh.
--IANS
tri/vt
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