PKL Auction 2021: Most expensive player from every PKL season
PKL Auction 2021 will begin this Sunday, with more than 450 players going under the hammer to get a chance in the eighth edition of the league. The three-day event will take place from 29th to 31st August in Mumbai, where all 12 franchises will look to rebuild their squad for PKL 8.
Some of the big names like Pardeep Narwal, Siddharth Desai, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Rohit Kumar, Baldev Singh, Ravinder Pahal, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Ajay Thakur, Rahul Chaudhari, PO Surjeet Singh, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rishank Devadiga, Sandeep Narwal and Monu Goyat will be available in the pool.
Over the years, a few Indian and overseas players have walked away with huge sums after starting a bidding war at the PKL Auction.
With PKL Auction 2021 right around the corner, here's a recap of the most expensive players from each of the seven PKL seasons thus far.
PKL 1: Rakesh Kumar (₹12.8 lakh)
Former Indian captain Rakesh Kumar was bought by the Patna Pirates in the inaugural season of the PKL in 2014, fetching a sum of ₹12.80 lakh. It was no surprise that he became the costliest purchase at the first-ever PKL auction because he had been a World Cup winner and a 3-time Asian Games gold medalist.
The legendary all-rounder captained the Patna Pirates and helped them qualify for the semi-finals of PKL 1. Although the team couldn't win the trophy under his captaincy, he scored 99 valuable points for the Pirates in that edition. Rakesh went on to represent U Mumba and Telugu Titans before announcing his retirement from the sport in PKL 6.
PKL 2: Hadi Oshtorak (₹21.1 lakh )
PKL 2 saw 14 international players getting signed out of 27 players listed from around 13 countries. Iranian Hadi Oshtorak fetched ₹21.1 lakh in the auction, making him the highest-priced player of PKL 2 for the Telugu Titans. Hadi's teammate Meraj Sheykh got picked by the same franchise as the second-biggest purchase for ₹20.1 lakh.
However, the Telugu Titans' investment in Hadi Oshtorak didn't pay off as the all-rounder could only play four matches in the second season. Oshtorak only managed to score seven tackle points as the Telugu Titans were eliminated in the semi-finals.
PKL 3: Hadi Oshtorak (draft)
PKL 3 saw players getting drafted as teams switched their players among each other from the squads of Season 2. A total of 20 players changed teams, while some of the star players like Anup Kumar (U Mumba), Rahul Chaudhari (Telugu Titans), and Jang Kun Lee (Bengal Warriors) stayed with their respective franchises.
Hadi Oshtorak moved to the Patna Pirates in the draft, where he was part of the title-winning squad in seasons 3 and 4. The Iranian played for U Mumba and Gujarat Giants in the later editions and came back to Patna Pirates for PKL 7.