Mumbai, May 13 (IANS) Mohit Chhillar received the highest bid of Rs.53 lakh from Bengaluru Bulls, while Telugu Titans splurged Rs.45.5 lakh to bag Sandeep Narwal in the players' auction of the Pro Kabaddi League's fourth edition here on Friday.
Corner defender Mohit had the base price of Rs.12 lakh but Bengaluru won after bidding war with multiple franchises.
U Mumba got Jeeva Kumar Rs.40 lakh as he received the third highest bid in the auction that saw 96 players being picked from a list of 198. The franchises spent a total of Rs.15.614 crore.
The top five players in the overseas category saw high interest from all franchises. Fazel Atrachali from Iran went to Patna Pirates for Rs.38 lakh, while South Korean star Jang Kun Lee was retained by Bengal Warriors for Rs.22 lakh.
Hadi Oshtorak, who was the highest bidded player from second edition by Telugu Titans, kept up his impressive run in Pro Kabaddi and was bagged by Patna Pirates for Rs.8 lakh. Iranian all-rounder Meraj Sheykh went to Dabang Delhi for Rs.19 lakh.
The teams were armed with their respective strategy and aimed to find the perfect balance. Franchises were given an option to retain two of their existing players. The key Indian players retained by franchises include Manjeet Chhillar and raider Deepak Niwas Hooda for Puneri Paltan.
U Mumba retained the charismatic captain cool Anup Kumar and Rishank Devadiga, while Dabang Delhi kept hold of Kashiling Adake, who will be playing in his fourth edition for the team along with young raider Selvamani K.
Rahul Chaudhari and Sukesh Hegde will once again represent Telugu Titans while Jaipur Pink Panthers have retained Rajesh Narwal and Jasvir Singh.
Bengal Warriors retained Nilesh Shinde and Girish Maruti Ernak. Bengaluru Bulls retained Pawan Kumar and Ashish Kumar. Winners of third edition, Patna Pirates retained Pardeep Narwal and Rajesh Mondal.
Star Sports CEO Nitin Kukreja said: "Over the last three years, Star India has led the way in showing that India is ready to be a multi-sport nation. The Season 4 auction unfolded a brand new chapter in Kabaddi with 198 players going under the hammer!"
"And owners strategically dashing their way through to reconstitute teams with a good mix of Indian and international players. We are already seeing renewed and growing brand sponsorship support and Season 4 of Pro Kabbadi promises to be an even bigger opportunity to engage with the sport and its fans!
This edition will also see franchises pick three young players between the age group of 18-22 who will be trained alongside with the squad. These players will necessarily should have never played in a league before.
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