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As the much-anticipated PKL Auction 2021 kicked off in Mumbai yesterday, the players released and retained ahead of the eighth season threw up several surprises. All 12 teams will be aiming to rebuild their squad for the eighth season of the PKL, slated to take place in December.
The auction pool comprises players released by their former teams and has additions from the domestic circuit and the New Young Players (NYP) category. Overseas players and those who have been a part of the 67th and 68th Senior National Kabaddi Championships are also part of the auction list.
Ahead of PKL Auction 2021, U Mumba had retained the highest number of players (4) in the Elite Retained Players (ERP) category. Meanwhile, Tamil Thalaivas and U.P. Yoddha are two franchises that have zero retention as ERPs.
The Bengaluru Bulls have retained the 'Hi-Flyer' Pawan Sehrawat for PKL 8. Defending champions Bengal Warriors will look to make it two in a row with star raider Maninder Singh, left corner Rinku Narwal and Iranian Mohammad Nabibakhsh in the setup. The cover duo of Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal will work as a rock-solid unit for Gujarat Giants for a third consecutive season.
Abhishek Singh and Fazel Atrachali have made the cut for U Mumba for PKL 8. Patna Pirates have banked upon Neeraj Kumar, who was their find of PKL 7. Naveen Kumar (Dabang Delhi K.C.) and Nitesh Kumar (U.P. Yoddha) are two notable names in the Retained Young Players (RYP) category.
Money left with each team for PKL Auction 2021
All 12 teams can spend a total of ₹4.4 crores on building their squads for PKL 8. They can use FBM cards twice, as all franchisees are eligible to do so at PKL Auction 2021.
The player auction pool comprises four different categories: Category A, B, C, and D. The base price of players in each category is as follows:
Category A - ₹30 lakhs
Category B - ₹20 lakhs
Category C - ₹10 lakhs
Category D - ₹6 lakhs
Tamil Thalaivas were quite generous with releasing players for the new season as they look to overhaul their squad for PKL 8, which has left them with the biggest purse of ₹4.16 crores. Telugu Titans are left with the second-best purse of ₹3.70 crores after the release of their most expensive player of PKL 7: Siddharth Desai, ahead of the auction.
Meanwhile, U Mumba has the highest number of Elite Retained Players. Hence, they have the smallest budget of ₹1.92 crores in their kitty.
Take a look at how different teams stack up ahead in the PKL auction.
Bengal Warriors
Purse available: ₹2.11 crores
Players retained (4): Maninder Singh, Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh, Rinku Narwal & Ravindra Ramesh Kumawat
Bengaluru Bulls
Purse available: ₹2.89 crores
Players retained (5): Pawan Sehrawat, Amit Sheoran, Saurabh Nandal, Banty & Mohit Sehrawat
Dabang Delhi K.C.
Purse available: ₹2.68 crores
Players retained (6): Vijay, Neeraj Narwal, Naveen Kumar, Balram, Sumit & Mohit
Gujarat Giants
Purse available: ₹2.59 crores
Players retained (5): Parvesh Bhainswal, Sunil Kumar, Harmanjeet Singh, Sumit & Ankit
Haryana Steelers
Purse available: ₹3.17 crores
Players retained (4): Vikash Kandola, Vinay, Vikas Chhillar & Chand Singh
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Purse available: ₹3.27 crores
Players retained (7): Amit Hooda, Vishal Lather, Nitin Rawal, Sachin Narwal, Pavan TR, Sushil Gulia & Elavarasan A
Patna Pirates
Purse available: ₹3.54 crores
Players retained (5): Neeraj Kumar, Monu, Sahil Mann, Rajveersinh Pratap Rao Chavan & Mohit
Puneri Paltan
Purse available: ₹3.44 crores
Players retained (5): Balasaheb Shahaji Jadhav, Pawan Kumar Kadian, Hadi Tajik, Sanket Sawant & Pankaj Mohite
Players bought (2): Mohit Goyat & Govind Gurjar
Tamil Thalaivas
Purse available: ₹4.16 crores
Players retained (3): Sagar, Himanshu & M Abishek
Telugu Titans
Purse available: ₹3.70 crores
Players retained (6): Rakesh Gowda, Ankit Beniwal, Rajnish, Manish, Akash Choudhary & Akash Dattu Arsul
Players bought (1): Prince
U Mumba
Purse available: ₹1.92 crores
Players retained (5): Abhishek Singh, Ajinkya Rohidas Kapare, Harendra Kumar, Fazel Atrachali & Navneet
UP Yoddha
Purse available: ₹3.61 crores
Players retained (4): Nitesh Kumar, Sumit Sangwan, Ashu Singh & Surinder Gill
Players bought (1): Nitin Panwar
