The yet-to-be-named Uttar Pradesh team, which is owned by GMR Group, hogged the limelight on the first day of the Pro Kabaddi Leauge 2017 auction as they paid a record amount of money to acquire the services of Nitin Tomar for a whopping Rs 93 lakh.
Earlier the previous record was set by Mohit Chillar, who was bought for Rs 53 Lakh by the Bengaluru Bulls. However, that record had already been shattered twice earlier in the day. But when Tomar’s name came up towards the end of the day, all the teams went berserk.
In the end, Uttar Pradesh managed to outbid the other teams and added the talented 22-yar-old raider to their team. Tomar was a part of the national team that won the World Cup last year but it was not expected that he would command such a high price.
The team had done good business right through Day One as they had bought another youngster, all-rounder Rajesh Narwal for a fee of Rs 69 lakh (the fourth costliest player in the history of the league). The all-rounder is one of the best in the business and naturally, almost all the teams wanted him.
Veteran Jeeva Kumar will lend some much-needed experience to the team, thus providing the right balance. The former U Mumba defender was picked up for Rs 52 lakh and it could prove to be a shrewd pick.
On the second day, they picked up some very talented players. Among them, former U Mumba raider, Surender Singh, who was bought for Rs 28.5 lakhs, should be exciting to watch.
Although they spent a little over the top for Tomar, he could turn out to be a good acquisition if he manages to stay injury-free and gives his best. Overall, they have built a young and exciting team which can be the dark horse in the race for the coveted trophy.
Key Transfers:
- Rajesh Narwal
- Jeeva Kumar
Here is the full squad of Team Uttar Pradesh:
| Sl. No. | Player Name | Position |
| 1. | Sulieman Kabir | Raider |
| 2. | Rajesh Narwal | All-rounder |
| 3. | Jeeva Kumar | Defender |
| 4. | Nitin Tomar | Raider |
| 5. | Rishank Devadiga | Raider |
| 6. | Hadi Tajik | Defender |
| 7. | Pankaj | All-rounder |
| 8. | Nitesh Kumar | Defender |
| 9. | Gurvinder Singh | Defender |
| 10. | Mahesh Goud | Raider |
| 11. | Surender Singh | Raider |
| 12. | Santosh B. S. | Defender |
| 13. | Ajvender Singh | Raider |
| 14. | Rohit Kumar Jr. | Defender |
| 15. | Sanoj Kumar | Defender |
| 16. | Gulveer Singh | Raider |
| 17. | Sunil | All-rounder |
| 18. | Sagar B. Krishna | All-rounder |
Also Read: Pro Kabaddi 2017 Season 5: Full List of players bought by all the teams with price
