Costliest Playing 7 from Pro Kabaddi 2022 Auction
The Pro Kabaddi 2022 Auction is in the history books as all 12 franchises have formed their squads for the upcoming PKL season. Several records were broken during the two-day auction in Mumbai.
Before the auction, Pardeep Narwal held the record for being the most expensive player in Pro Kabaddi history at ₹1.65 crore. However, two raiders overtook him on the all-time list by the time the PKL 2022 Auction concluded.
Almost all teams exhausted their auction purses this year. Interestingly, if someone tries to form the costliest playing seven of this year's PKL season, it will cost ₹8.726 crore. Here's a look at the most expensive playing seven in PKL 2022.
Raiders - Pawan Sehrawat (₹2.26 crore), Vikash Khandola (₹1.7 crore) and Guman Singh (₹1.215 crore)
Pawan Sehrawat shattered all records at the Pro Kabaddi Auction 2022 as the Tamil Thalaivas spent ₹2.26 crore to sign him. The Chennai-based franchise beat U Mumba in an intense bidding war to secure the services of the former Bengaluru Bulls captain.
Vikash Khandola has taken the place of Sehrawat in the Bengaluru Bulls team. The former Haryana Steelers skipper received a contract worth ₹1.7 crore from the Bulls at this year's auction.
Guman Singh was the surprise package of this year's Pro Kabaddi League auction. Not many expected him to touch the ₹1 crore mark, but he ended up receiving a contract worth ₹1.215 crore from U Mumba.
The trio of Guman, Vikash and Pawan will shoulder the raiding responsibilities of their respective teams. Pawan has been the best raider in the last three seasons of PKL, while Vikash has always been in contention to win the best raider award. Guman was 21st on the most raid points list last year, having scored 95 points in 19 matches for the Patna Pirates.
Defenders - Fazel Atrachali (₹1.38 crore), Sunil Kumar (₹90 lakh), Amirhossein Bastami (₹65.10 lakh) and Parvesh Bhainswal (₹62 lakh)
Iranian defenders Fazel Atrachali and Amirhossein Bastami were among the top four most expensive defenders of this year's PKL Auction. Puneri Paltan shelled out a whopping ₹1.38 crore to sign Atrachali, while Junior World Cup champion Bastami received a contract of ₹65.10 lakh from the Haryana Steelers.
Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal have left the Gujarat Giants for the first time since the franchise joined the Pro Kabaddi League. They were the two cover defenders of Gujarat from their fifth to eighth seasons, but will now represent different franchises in the tournament.
Right cover defender Sunil will don the Jaipur Pink Panthers jersey, having earned a ₹90 lakh contract from the inaugural PKL winners. Another right cover defender Ravi Kumar received ₹64.10 lakh from Dabang Delhi KC, but to ensure that the team has a left cover defender, Parvesh Bhainswal has been included.
Parvesh will play for the Telugu Titans in this year's PKL season. The Titans roped him in for ₹62 lakh at the PKL Auction.