Pro Kabaddi League 9 player auction to be held on August 5-6

The Season 9 Player Pool has been expanded to 500+ including the 24 players from top 2 teams of the Khelo India University Games 2021, Bangalore .

Dabang Delhi was crowned the champion of Season 8 of PKL. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Mashal Sports, organizers of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), on Friday has announced the dates of the PKL Season 9 Player Auction as August 5 - 6, 2022 in Mumbai.

The Season 9 Player Pool has been expanded to 500+ including the 24 players from top 2 teams of the Khelo India University Games 2021, Bangalore . 

AUCTION LOWDOWN

The Domestic, Overseas, and New Young Players (NYPs) will be divided into four categories: Category A, B, C and D in this Player Auction.

The players will be further sub-divided as ‘All-Rounders’, ‘Defenders’ and ‘Raiders’ within each category.

The base prices for each of the categories are Category A – INR 30 Lakhs, Category B – INR 20 Lakhs, Category C – INR 10 Lakhs, Category D – INR 6 Lakhs.

The total Salary Purse available to each franchisee for its squad for Season 9 is INR 4.4 crores.

The PKL teams also have a choice of retention of players from their respective PKL Season 8 squads as per the league policies.

The franchisees are allowed to retain up to 6 players under the Elite Retained Players category and up to 4 New Young Players (NYPs) under stipulated conditions in each PKL season.

The players, who are not retained by the franchisees from the pool of 500+ players, will go under the hammer during the two-day auction process in Mumbai.

Raider Neeraj Narwal said “ I would definitely like to play for Delhi Dabang K.C. again, but let’s see what happens, time will tell. I am also looking to catch the Indian team selectors’ eye through my performances here at the nationals. If I get selected for India camp, then nothing like it.”

Narwal played a crucial role in Dabang Delhi K.C. winning its first PKL title last season, scoring 47 points in 19 matches.

The costliest defender of the Season 8 Player Auction and the Captain of Tamil Thalaivas in the last season, Surjeet Singh also shared his thoughts on the upcoming Player Auctions.

“Various coaches from the Pro Kabaddi teams are here and they are looking at our performances. They will decide who they want to pick for this year’s season from here. We were waiting for the auction dates and it has finally been announced today. A lot of new players will get a chance to play this year,” said the Defender after helping Services Sports Control Board defeat Puducherry 54-20 in their Pool B match at the 69th Senior National Kabaddi Championship 2022- (MEN’S).