Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction: Costliest playing 7 ft. Sachin Tanwar and Mohammadreza Shadloui
Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction happened last week in Mumbai. Several kabaddi stars earned big deals from the 12 franchises at the auction table. Before the auction, each team had an option to retain the players they wished to keep from their previous season's squad.
The team management of almost all teams showed more faith in young players while locking in the retentions and releasing some big names from their squads. Hence, there were intense bidding wars at the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction, with multiple players earning deals worth more than ₹1 crore.
Now that the auction has culminated, in this listicle, we will form the costliest playing seven of PKL season 11.
Left Corner - Mohammadreza Shadloui, Haryana Steelers
As expected, Iran's all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui emerged as the most expensive foreign player at the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction. Last edition's runners-up Haryana Steelers went all out for the all-rounder and acquired his services for ₹2.07 crore.
Shadloui won the Best Defender award while playing in the left corner position for Puneri Paltan in PKL 10. Apart from his brilliant tackling skills, Shadloui can also make a difference with his raiding when needed.
Left In - Sachin Tanwar, Tamil Thalaivas
Sachin Tanwar was the most expensive player at the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction. The former Gujarat Giants star earned a massive deal worth ₹2.15 crore from the Tamil Thalaivas.
The Thalaivas have qualified for the playoffs only once in six seasons. Superstars like Ajay Thakur, Rahul Chaudhari, Jasvir Singh, Manjeet Chhillar, and Pawan Sehrawat could not take the Chennai-based franchise to the playoffs when they played for this team.
It will be interesting to see if Sachin can justify the price tag and guide the Tamil Thalaivas to their maiden trophy.
Left Cover - Gurdeep Sangwan, Patna Pirates
Former UP Yoddhas all-rounder Gurdeep Sangwan has moved to the Patna Pirates ahead of the new season. Gurdeep has 87 points to his name in 60 PKL matches.
The left cover specialist was in the Category C of domestic all-rounders. Still, he sparked a bidding war between franchises, and eventually, Patna signed him for a whopping ₹59 lakh.
Center - Guman Singh, Gujarat Giants
Gujarat Giants had the highest purse value remaining heading into the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction. The Ahmedabad-based franchise shelled out a massive ₹1.97 crore to sign raider Guman Singh at the auction.
Guman led U Mumba's attack in the past while he was a support raider at the Patna Pirates. Gujarat coach Ram Mehar Singh has enormous confidence in Guman's skills. All eyes will be on the tall raider when he dons the Giants jersey this season.
Right Cover - Sunil Kumar, U Mumba
Sunil Kumar was the only specialist defender to earn more than ₹1 crore at the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction. Former champions U Mumba signed right cover specialist Sunil for ₹1.015 crore.
It looks like the Mumbai-based franchise spent such a big amount for Sunil's services because of his captaincy as well. Sunil led the Jaipur Pink Panthers to the PKL trophy in season nine.
Right In - Pawan Sehrawat, Telugu Titans
While Pawan Sehrawat did not cross the ₹2 crore mark at the auction this time, he emerged as the fourth most expensive pick. Telugu Titans re-signed him by using the FBM card at the auction.
Sehrawat's salary for the upcoming season will be ₹1.725 crore. Luckily for the Hi-Flier, he will have the support of match-winners like Krishan Dhull and Vijay Malik in the Titans squad this season.
Right Corner - Shubham Shinde, Patna Pirates
Three-time champions Patna Pirates surprisingly let go of their star right corner defender Krishan Dhull ahead of the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction. While they could not re-sign Dhull, Patna shelled out ₹70 lakh to acquire Shubham Shinde's services.
Shubham played in the right corner position for the Bengal Warriors last season. He finished 12th on the defenders' leaderboard with 62 tackle points from 22 matches.
Most expensive 7 of Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction
Mohammadreza Shadloui (₹2.07 crore), Sachin Tanwar (₹2.15 crore), Gurdeep Sangwan (₹59 lakh), Guman Singh (₹1.97 crore), Sunil Kumar (₹1.015 crore), Pawan Sehrawat (₹1.725 crore) and Shubham Shinde (₹70 lakh). Total salary = ₹10.22 crore.