PKL9 auction: The rise and fall of Siddharth Desai

PKL 9 auction: Siddharth Desai’s price dipped drastically as once the most expensive player went only for his base price of Rs 20 lakh.

FILE PHOTO: Siddarth Desai. | Photo Credit: PKL

Raider Siddarth Desai was re-signed by Telugu Titans for Rs 20 lakh on day one of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 auction in Mumbai on Friday, his lowest price ever.

PKL 9 AUCTION DAY HIGHLIGHTS

Desai made his PKL debut in Season 6 after U Mumba picked him for Rs 36.4 lakh. The ‘Bahubali’ scored 218 raid points in 21 matches.

Season	Franchise	Matches played	Raid points
2018	U Mumba	21	218
2019	Telugu Titans	22	217
2021	Telugu Titans	3	34

Impressed by his performance, Telugu Titans went all out for the raider at Season 7’s auction and roped him in for Rs 1.45 crore, making him the most expensive player in the tournament’s history at that time. In his first stint with the Titans, he amassed 217 raid points in 22 matches. However, Titans released him ahead of the 2021 auction.

In the Season 8 auction, UP Yoddhas bid Rs 1.30 crore for Desai but Titans, the Hyderabad-based franchise, used its Final Bid Match card to re-sign the 6’2” raider.

Unfortunately, Desai’s 2021 season was cut short due to a wrist injury after just three appearances