Pro Kabaddi League: 3 sets of players who got ‘traded’ at the PKL 11 Auction ft. Mohammadreza Shadloui and Mohit Kaler
Pro Kabaddi Auction 2024 culminated last Friday (August 16). The two-day event saw multiple kabaddi stars earn big contracts from the 12 franchises in the auction room. Two players, namely Sachin Tanwar and Mohammadreza Shadloui, earned deals worth more than ₹2 crore at the mega auction.
Before the Pro Kabaddi Auction 2024, all teams had an option to retain some players from their previous squads. Unlike IPL, PKL does not have a trading window, where the franchises can swap players as per their requirement.
However, this year's auction dynamics worked in such a way that a couple of franchises ended up swapping players for the same position. Here's a list of three unofficial trades that happened during the Pro Kabaddi Auction 2024.
#1 Puneri Paltan and Haryana Steelers swapped their left corner defenders at Pro Kabaddi Auction 2024
The biggest 'trade' to happen ahead of PKL season 11 was the Puneri Paltan and the Haryana Steelers' exchange of left corner defenders. Pune and Haryana were last season's finalists, and left corner Mohammadreza Shadloui played an enormous role in Pune's triumph.
Shadloui has now joined the Haryana team, with coach Manpreet Singh offering him a massive contract worth ₹2.07 crore at the auction. Pune did not use the FBM option for Shadloui and instead roped in Haryana's left corner from season 10, Mohit Kaler at his base price of ₹20 lakh.
Mohit was among the Top 25 defenders last season. He will have the huge responsibility of filling in for Shadloui at Puneri Paltan in PKL 11.
#2 UP Yoddhas and Bengaluru Bulls exchanged their main raiders at Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction
Former champions Bengaluru Bulls let go of their main raider Bharat Hooda after his ordinary performance in season 10. Despite Hooda's disappointing show in PKL 10, he sparked a bidding war between franchises at the auction, with the UP Yoddhas eventually signing him for ₹1.3 crore.
Since the Yoddhas invested big in Bharat's services, they did not have enough funds available to re-sign their star raider Pardeep Narwal. The Bengaluru Bulls took advantage of the auction dynamics and signed the league's most successful raider for just ₹70 lakh.
Pardeep will lead Bengaluru's attack now, while Bharat will be the main raider of the Yoddhas.
#3 Patna Pirates and Gujarat Giants 'traded' their right cover defenders at Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction
PKL season five finalists Patna Pirates and Gujarat Giants exchanged their right cover defenders at the auction. Gujarat coach Ram Mehar Singh, who previously coached Patna, roped in former Patna skipper Neeraj Kumar for the right cover position.
The Pirates then decided to splurge ₹50 lakh for Deepak Singh's services at the auction.
Speaking exclusively with Sportskeeda after the auction, Gujarat's head coach Ram Mehar Singh explained why he signed Neeraj. He said:
"Neeraj Kumar is one of the best defenders. I would have signed him for any amount. I am lucky he was a part of the C category. Before that, Deepak's name came. He was with us last season, but Patna Pirates signed him."
Both Neeraj and Deepak could not impress much in PKL 10. It will be interesting to see if a change of teams results in change of form for the two defenders.