PKL Auction 2023: Pawan Kumar Sehrawat fetches INR 2 crore; Guman Singh draws INR 1 crore

Pawan Kumar Sehrawat emerged as the most expensive buy on Day 1 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2023 (Season 9) Player Auctions held in Mumbai on Friday. On the other hand, Guman Singh was the most expensive Category B player, being bought for a whopping ₹1.21 crore by U Mumba. This auction also witnessed a jump in the ₹1 crore club from a couple of players in the last auction to four players. Pardeep Narwal and Siddharth Desai were previously part of the ₹1 crore club. At the same time, Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, Vikash Khandola, Fazel Atrachali and Guman Singh were part of the ₹1 crore club in this auction. A total of 30 players were sold to 12 franchises, with 4 Final Bid Match (FBM) cards being used on Day 1. The auction witnessed teams spend ₹18.11 crore on Day 1 across categories of players in the auction.

PKL star domination continued
The auction's highlight was Pawan Kumar Sehrawat smashing the record after Tamil Thalaivas bought him for a whopping sum of ₹2.26 crore. In the meantime, Vikash Khandola found a new home in Bengaluru Bulls after being owned for ₹1.70 crore. The raider became the second most expensive buy ever in PKL history. Pardeep Narwal returned to UP Yoddha after the franchise used the FBM Card at ₹90 lakh.

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Demand for Iranians
The Iranian kabaddi legend Fazel Atrachali broke the record for the most expensive defender and overseas player after being acquired for ₹1.38 crore by Puneri Paltan. Atrachali held both records when U Mumba picked him for ₹1 crore in the 2018 auction. The Paltan received his compatriot, Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakgsh (F), for ₹87 lakh.

Following the Day 1 of the auction, PKL CEO Mr. Anupam Goswami voiced, “It was a fabulous day for all the teams on Day 1 of the player auctions. All the franchisees strategized well, and we saw some great bids today. We have a lot of action coming up tomorrow, and I hope all the teams will be able to build their desired squads.”

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