Pro Kabaddi season 5 auction sees teams spend ~47 crore

VIVO Pro Kabaddi that concluded its two-day player auction on Tuesday in the national capital saw 12 teams spend a total of ~46.99 crores to acquire 227 players.

Star raiders Nitin Tomar (~93 lakh), Rohit Kumar (~81 lakh) and all-rounder Manjeet Chillar (~75.5 lakh) were the top buys in the auction, picked by Team UP, Bengaluru Bulls and Jaipur Pink Panthers, respectively.

Jang Kun Lee, retained by Bengal Warriors, is the highest valued international player, at ~80.3 lakh.

The teams spent a total of ~3.95 crore on acquiring the top five Indian players and another ~2.16 crore (including Lee) on acquiring foreign players. While Day 1 was dominated by Category-A stars, Day 2 witnessed the franchises finding the perfect balance between experienced and young players.

On Day 2 of the auction, Indian players from the remaining categories went under the hammer. Suraj Desai secured the highest bid on Day 2 by Dabang Delhi KC for ~52.50 lacs. New entrants also attracted interest of the franchisees on the second day. Sachin, a bronze medallist in the junior national championships, was picked by Team Gujarat for ~36 lacs.

Anupam Goswami, league commissioner, VIVO Pro Kabaddi said, “With four new teams coming on board, we embarked upon a new journey with the biggest Kabaddi auction in history.”