PKL Auction 2021: All you need to know about the auction for PKL 8
PKL Auction 2021 is right around the corner as the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) makes its grand return for its eighth edition after a gap of two years. All the 12 franchises will look to rebuild their squad with over 450 players set to go under the hammer in the three-day affair to be held from 29th August in Mumbai.
A total of 59 players have been retained ahead of PKL Auction 2021, with 22 in the Elite Retained Players (ERP) category. Six players in the Retained Young Players (RYP) and 31 in the New Young Players (NYP) have been retained as well.
The likes of Pardeep Narwal, Siddharth Desai, Rohit Kumar, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Baldev Singh, Ravinder Pahal, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, PO Surjeet Singh, Ajay Thakur, Rahul Chaudhari, Vishal Bhardwaj, Sandeep Narwal, Rishank Devadiga, and Monu Goyat will be available at PKL Auction 2021.
How does the auction for the Pro Kabaddi League work? What are the rules and what does FBM card mean? Here's everything you need to know about PKL Auction 2021.
When will the PKL Auction 2021 start and where will it be held?
The PKL Auction 2021 for the eighth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League start from 29th August 2021 (Sunday) till the 31st of August 2021 (Tuesday) in Mumbai. The players available in the three days of PKL Auction 2021 are as follows:
New Young Players (NYP) - 29th August 2021
Overseas and Category A Players - 30th August 2021
Category B and C Players - 31st August 2021
Where to watch PKL Auction 2021 live?
Kabaddi fans will only get to watch the auction of Category 'A' players on August 30th on the Star Sports Network at 6:30 PM IST. The player auction on the 29th and 31st of August will not get telecasted.
Live updates of the PKL Auction will be available on Sportskeeda Kabaddi. The auction will be live-streamed on Disney+ Hotstar VIP.
How does the PKL Auction work?
The auction pool of PKL 8 has more than 450 players who will go under the hammer. It comprises players released by their previous teams and new players from the domestic circuit through the New Young Players (NYP) program and the 66th and 67th Senior National Kabaddi Championships.
Bidding starts at the base price for each player after one team opens the bid to acquire the player's services.
If multiple teams show interest in a particular player, then the team that makes the maximum bid can sign the player in their squad.
Who is released and retained ahead of PKL Auction 2021?
The complete list of all 59 retained players ahead of PKL Auction 2021 can be found here. Along with that, the list of players released by the 12 franchises before the auction can be found here.
How many players can be bought in the PKL Auction 2021 by each franchise?
Each PKL franchise needs to have a minimum of 18 players in their squad. The maximum number of players the team can have is 25.
As for the overseas category, each team must have at least two and a maximum of four players in their squad.
What is the purse available for each team in PKL Auction 2021?
The salary purse for each franchise for PKL Auction 2021 is INR βΉ4.4 crores. However, each team will have a different budget based upon the remaining amount after retaining players. The actual salary purse each franchise has for the auction is yet to be announced.
What are the base prices for each player in the auction?
There are three categories in the PKL Auction 2021 - domestic, New Young Players (NYP), and overseas, where they get subdivided into four different sub-categories (A, B, C, and D).
The base price of players in each sub-category is as follows:
Category A - βΉ30 lakhs
Category B - βΉ20 lakhs
Category C - βΉ10 lakhs
Category D - βΉ6 lakhs
What is the Final Bid Match (FBM) card in PKL?
The Final Bid Match (FBM) is a card that allows teams to buy a released player from their previous season back in their squad at the exact amount that matches the winning bid from a rival franchise. This rule was introduced in PKL 6, where the cards can be used twice, subjected to the number of players retained by a particular team.
Which teams are eligible to use two FBM cards in the PKL Auction 2021?
Teams that have retained six Elite Retained Players (ERP) are not eligible to use the FBM card. The team that has five ERPs can only use the card once.
U Mumba has the highest number of Elite Retained Players (ERP) - four players. Meanwhile, Tamil Thalaivas and UP Yoddha do not have any ERPs in their squad for PKL 8. This means that all 12 franchisees are eligible to use their FBM cards twice for PKL Auction 2021.