The auctions for season 10 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), will be held on September 8 and 9 in Mumbai, organizers Mashal Sports announced on Monday.
Interestingly, the auctions are being held merely two weeks before the Asian Games get underway in China, where India will look to wrestle the title back from Iran.
Here's all you need to know about the player auctions of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 10
When are the PKL 10 player auctions being held?
The player auctions for PKL 10 will be held on September 8 and 9 in Mumbai.
How does the PKL auction work?
Each team has the choice of retaining up to six players from their PKL 9 squad. These players will be classified as 'Elite Retained Players'. The players who aren't retained will go into the auction pool and be available to all the 11 other teams during the two-day auction process.
Can a PKL team retain a player at the auctions?
They sure can. Teams can use the Final Bid Match [FBM] card to retain a player during the auction. The FBM card allows the team to buy back its players, who it had earlier released, for the price of the final bid at the auction.
For example, let's say that the Bengaluru Bulls release Bharat Hooda. Bengal Warriors make a winning bid of Rs. X to sign him. Before the player is awarded to the Warriors, the auctioneer will ask Bulls if they want to use their FBM card. If they say yes, then Bharat will go back to the Bulls for the price that the Warriors were willing to offer.
What is the format of the PKL player auction?
The domestic and overseas players will be divided into four categories: Category A, B, C and D.
The players will further be categorized as 'All-Rounders', 'Defenders' and 'Raiders' within each category. The base prices for each of the categories are Category A: ₹30 Lakh, Category B: ₹20 Lakh, Category C: ₹13 Lakh and Category D: ₹9 Lakh.
Any changes ahead of PKL 10?
Yep, two changes. The first is that the auction pool will consist of over 500 players, including the 24 players from the two finalist teams of the Khelo India University Games 2023.
Going once. Going twice. And ������ ����
������������ ���� ������������ �������������� mein aap sabhi ka swagat hai ��#ProKabaddi #PKLPlayerAuction #Season10 pic.twitter.com/ur0KDlwp9M
- ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) July 3, 2023
Secondly, each of the 12 franchises will now have a total salary purse of ₹5 crore as opposed to the earlier limit of ₹4.4 crore. The amount has increased after three seasons.
Who is the most expensive player in PKL history?
Pawan Kumar Sehrawat is the most expensive player in PKL history. He was signed by Tamil Thalaivas in PKL 9 for a record-breaking fee of ₹2.26 crore. However, he suffered an injury in the very first game of the season and was ruled out for the remainder of PKL 9. He recently made a comeback and led the Indian team to the Asian Kabaddi Championships title.