Pro Kabaddi League Season 7: 4 raiders to watch out for at the auction

Last year on 30th and 31st of May, the auctions for the sixth installment of Pro Kabaddi League took place and decided the fate of all the players who went under the hammer.

Guess what, the auction for PKL 7 is back, this time on the 8th and 9th April 2019. Mashal sports also declared the official elite retained players' list on the 25th of March.

Also read: Players that were retained by their teams for the approaching season

Twelve teams from all across the nation will clash against each other for the coveted PKL trophy. Last season, Pawan Sehrawat's Bengaluru Bulls managed to seize the prized cup from the giant hands of Gujarat Fortune Giants.

However, this year's retained players' list is pretty shocking as sublime players like Rahul Chaudhari, Siddharth Desai, Nitesh Kumar, Rishank Devadiga and last year's costliest player Monu Goyat were left out by their teams.

Last year was epic as we witnessed some raiders perform wizardry on the mat live (not real magic though). The purple-orange mat became their stage, where they executed some brilliant raids, high jumps, frog jumps and what not!

Let us now have a look at the raiders who can get the highest bid in the upcoming auctions:

#4 Prashanth Kumar Rai

Prashanth Kumar Rai, the tall and extremely skilled Mangalore-born player played for UP Yoddhas last season. This ace raider was bought by Yoddhas' management for ₹79 lakhs in 2018. He was also the priciest player on the Day 2 of the auctions.

Rai managed to scoop out a total of 144 raid points in 21 matches. He was one of the best players of UP and played a massive role in his team qualifying for the playoffs. Kumar brought that spark of hope to the team when it was lost.

Prashanth proved his worth and never failed to perform whenever his team was suffering. He surely has the capability of fetching a fat bid in the approaching auctions.

Also read: Pro Kabaddi League Season 7: Detailed analysis of the Elite Retained Players' list

#3 Monu Goyat

Here comes the most expensive player in the history of PKL, Monu Goyat. Haryana Steelers bought him for a leviathan price of ₹151 lakhs.

He made his debut in season 4 from Bengal Warriors and was the only player who single-handedly tried to save his sinking team.

Monu's real worth was revealed when he was bought by Patna Pirates, where he got the chance of playing next to the Dubki King, Pardeep Narwal.

Patna helped him uncover his best game as he ended up scoring an unbelievable total of 202 points in just 26 matches by the end of season 5.

Even though his team Haryana Steelers did not put up a great game last season, his reflexes made him a difficult raider to study.

The silent assassin scored 164 points last season in 20 matches, which is undoubtedly a great figure to achieve. We expect him to be one of the priciest players once again in the season 7 auctions.

#2 Rahul Chaudhari

The poster boy of Pro Kabaddi League became the second costliest player in season 6 auctions. His former team Telegu Titans used their Final Bid Match card and bought Rahul for a whopping sum of ₹129 lakhs.

No doubt that Chaudhari is the king of stats he was the first player in the history of PKL to hit the 800-point mark, in six seasons. Also nicknamed the Raid Machine ever since the inception of PKL, he scooped in 166 points in 21 matches.

Hearts were heard pumping while the teams were bidding last season for this substantial raider. I bet everyone who had buried their eyes on the TV screen heaved a sigh of relief when Telegu's management chose to use their Final Bid Match card.

It would be a different experience to see Chaudhari donning on some other team's t-shirt other than his very popular yellow-black robe. Think about how interesting that would be!

#1 Siddharth Desai

Siddharth Desai, what art thee? "My beautiful game defines me" is just the perfect explanation for this mind-blowing player. How many players do you think have completed the fifty raid point mark in just FOUR matches, that too in their debut season? You got to be kidding me!

Desai put up an impossible game last season and scored an astounding total of 221 points in just 21 matches. This young prowess was compared to the ace player Pardeep Narwal, throughout the sixth season.

If I told you that he scored 15 raid points in his first PKL match, will you believe me? Nonetheless, Sid's form was pretty loose in the last match of U Mumba, which unfortunately prevented Mumba's squad from grabbing a seat in the eliminator.

Bought by U Mumba for ₹36 lakhs, he has a high probability of bagging the title of the costliest player of season 7.