PKL 2023 auction Highlights, Day 1: Telugu buys Pawan Sehrawat at record 2.61 cr, Puneri gets Shadloui at 2.35 cr, Gujarat buys Fazel-Nabi; Bengal uses FBM card for Maninder at 2.12 cr

We are done for the day as the first two (A and B) categories. Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh stole the limelight initially as he became the most expensive player in PKL history after Puneri Paltan bought the Iranian all-rounder for 2.35 cr. But the record did not stand long as Telugu Titans went all-in on Indian national captain Pawan Sehrawat to acquire his services for 2.61 cr, making him the most expensive player in the Pro Kabaddi League history.

Chandran Ranjit goes to Haryana Steelers for 65.00 lakhs.

Ex-Telugu Titans star raider Siddharth Desai goes to Haryana Steelers at 1.00 cr.

Vikash Kandola stays with Bengaluru Bulls at 55.25 lakhs via FBM.

Pawan Sehrawat comes under the hammer. UP Yoddhas starts the bid at 20 lakhs. Bengaluru Bulls take straight to 1.00 cr before Telugu Titans take it to 1.50 cr. Haryana makes it 2.50cr to make him the most expensive player in PKL history. Titans finally won the bid for 2.61 cr (260.5L) to acquire the services for the Indian captain!

Sehrawat becomes the most expensive player once again!

Pawan sold to Telugu Titans at 2.61 cr (260.5L).

Dabang Delhi buys Meetu for 93 lakhs.

U Mumba uses FBM to get back the services of Guman Singh at 85.00 lakhs after Dabang Delhi won the bidding war for the lanky raider.

The bidding race is going for Ashu Malik and there are two teams in the race - Tamil Thalaivas and Bengaluru Bulls. Tamil Thalaivas wins the race, finally at 96.25 lakhs but hang on! Dabang Delhi exercises its FBM card to get back its dependable raider.

Ashu Malik sold to Dabang Delhi at 96.25 lakhs.

Bulls opens account for Bengal Warriors raider Shrikant Jadhav at 20.25 lakh. Bengal will keep having his services at 35.25 lakhs.

The last set of players of the day, raiders from category A, will be under the hammer in a few minutes.

Vishal Bhardwaj, the Asian Games 2023 Indian team member finds no buyer at day 1! He goes unsold.

Sunil goes to Dabang Delhi at the base price of 20 lakhs.

Bengaluru Bulls gets Vishal at the base price of 20 lakhs.

Gujarat Giants buys Sombir at 26.25 lakhs.

Bengal Warriors uses its FBM for Shubham Shinde to snatch him from Tamil Thalaivas at 32.25 lakhs.

U Mumba buys a second defender in Mahender Singh which cost them 40.25 lakh.

Girish Maruti Ernak sold to U Mumba at the base price of 20 lakhs.

We came in fully intending to get Shadloui. We wanted a main left corner and that’s why we went all out for Shadloui.

If Fazel had come ahead, we would have bid on merit. Shadloui is a rising star. In the Asian Championship final, we saw his raiding skills too. His all-round ability is something we like and comes in well with our sensibilities.

We don’t go by the name, we go by the position. We looked at the performances over the past seven months.

Are you now looking for a captaincy option?

No, we have Aslam. He is a knowledgeable player and Shadloui too has leadership qualities. We will take a call in training about who is able to take control of proceedings and earn the faith of the team.

We will be looking for backup players to strengthen the bench.

Does Shadloui’s arrival mean Akash Shinde and others go down the pecking order:

Aslam, Akash and Mohit are all starting 7 players. We have a good team.

We move to defenders in category B.

Ajinkya Kapre has no bidders in PKL 10!

Nitin Rawal goes to Bengal Warriors at 30 lakhs after Haryana Steelers refused to use its FBM card.

Nitin Rawal sold to Bengal Warriors at 30 lakhs.

No bids for Sandeep Narwal, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Ashish, Manoj Gowda, Sachin Narwal, Gurdeep!

Gujarat Giants bought Arkam Shaikh for 20.25 lakhs with the help of an FBM Card.

Arkam Shaikh sold to Gujarat Giants at 20.25 lakhs.

Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh is the first player in category B. Gujarat bids for Nabibakhsh at 20 lakh base price. Dabang Delhi joins the race at 20.25 lakh, and Gujarat finally buys the Iranian at 22.00 lakhs to get the deadly duo of Fazel-Nabi.

Nabibakhsh sold to Gujarat Giants at 22.00 lakh.

And with this, the category A ends. All the players have been sold!

Manjeet goes to Patna Pirates at 92 lakhs after Haryana Steelers did not choose to use their FBM card.

Manjeet sold to Patna Pirates at 92 lakh!

Bengal Warriors captain Maninder Singh will be the next guy under the hammer. Telugu Titans makes a huge bid to jump from 50 lakh to to 1.00 cr and then to 1.50 cr. The bid between Telugu and other teams raised to 2 cr and Titans won the bid at 2.12 cr but a twist came up as Bengal Warriors used their final bid match card to take their captain back at 2.12 cr! He becomes only the second Indian and third overall to cross the 2.00 cr mark in the PKL history.

Maninder Singh sold to Bengal Warriors at 2.12 cr.

Ex-Dabang Delhi player Vijay Malik is the fourth one on the list. Bengal Warriors starts the bidding for him at his base price of 30 lakh. UP Yoddhas take his price over 50 lakhs before Telugu Titans raise their paddle for the all-rounder. U Mumba joined the party, and it is a fight between them and UP Yoddhas as the price goes up to 70 lakh. UP and Mumba extend it to 84.50 lahks before Yoddhas hits the final nail in the coffin at 85.00 lahks. Delhi denies their FBM card use as Yoddhas confirmed its first player of this auction.

Vijay Malik sold to UP Yoddhas at 85.00 Lakh.

Rohit Gulia is the third on the list in the A category. Gujarat Giants gets the second guy, this time at 58.50 lakh. Bengal Warriors tried their best but Gujarat was in no mood to give this man at any cost.

Rohit Gulia sold to Gujarat Giants at 58.50 lakh

Fazel Atrachali is the second man to go under the hammer. His base price is 30 lakh. Telugu Titans start the proceedings at 30 lakh mark. Delhi bids at 30.5 lakh for Fazel. Both teams take Fazel’s price to 1.31 cr before Gujarat joins the party. Gujarat will have the bragging rights as they buy Fazel for 1.60 cr.

Fazel Atrachali sold to Gujarat Giants for 1.60 cr.

U Mumba starts the bidding for Shadloui. Bengal Warriors joined the race and quickly raised the price to 50 lakhs as the bidding war intensified. Gujarat Giants joined the party at the 80 lakh mark. Shadloui’s bid goes past the magical 1.00 cr mark! The bidding continues as Mumba raises the paddle to 1.30 cr. Make it 1.87 cr for the Iranian as Telugu raised the paddle for him. Giants come again at the 1.96 cr mark. Pune is not willing to give away the all-rounder as the bid has gone past the 2.26 cr mark, the highest ever bidding price as finally Shadloui has gone to PUNERI PALTAN FOR 2.35 crore!

Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh sold to Puneri Paltan at 2.35 crore.

Iran’s superstar all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh will be the first under the hammer for the PKL 2023 auction.

The Final Bid Match (FBM) rule allows teams to retain a player by matching the final bid made for him.

Each team can use the three FBMs in the auction. However, it also depends on the number of players retained by the team.

Ashu Malik - Haryana (Age 21)

Chandran Ranjit - Tamil Nadu (32)

Guman Singh - Haryana (24)

Meetu - Haryana (21)

Pawan Kumar Sehrawat - Delhi (27)

Shrikant Jadhav - Maharashtra (28)

Siddharth Sirish Desai - Maharashtra (31)

Vikash Khandola - Haryana (25)

Sombir - Haryana (Age 25)

Vishal Bhardwaj - Himachal Pradesh (26)

Girish Maruti Ernak - Maharashtra (32)

Mahender Singh - Himachal Pradesh (27)

Vishal - Haryana (27)

Shubham Shinde - Maharashtra (24)

Sunil - Haryana (23)

Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh - Iran (Age 32)

Ajinkya Rohidas Kapre - Maharashtra (29)

Arkam Shaikh - Maharashtra (24)

Ashish - Haryana (22)

Deepak Niwas Hooda - Haryana (29)

Gurdeep - Haryana (24)

Manoj Gowda K - Karnataka (26)

Nitin Rawal - Haryana (25)

Sachin Narwal - Haryana (22)

Sandeep Narwal - Haryana (30)

Mohammadreza Shadloui - All Rounder - Iran (Age 23)

Fazel Atrachali - Defender - Iran (31)

Rohit Gulia - All-Rounder - Haryana (25)

Vijay Malik - All-Rounder - Haryana (26)

Maninder Singh - Raider - Punjab (33)

Manjeet - Raider - Delhi (26)

Day 1

6:30 PM - PKL Logo Launch and 10-year celebration

8:00 PM - Category A and B auction

Day 2

10:00 AM - Category C and D auction

5:30 PM - End of auction

Live action from Day 1 of the Pro Kabaddi League action will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network. The live streaming of the event will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of Day 1 of the PKL 2023 Auction happening at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. Stay tuned as we bring you all the live updates as it unfolds.