Thalaivas spends big on young raiders

Tamil Thalaivas purchased the young raider duo of Manjeet and K Prapanjan as well as experienced cover defender PO Surjeet Singh on Day 2 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 auction in Mumbai.

J Udaya Kumar-coached Thalaivas, which went into the second day with the highest remaining purse amount, spent big on the trio that cost Rs 2.38 crore in total. Manjeet and Prapanjan were bought for Rs 92 lakh and Rs 71 lakh respectively, while Surjeet was purchased by the franchise for Rs 75 lakh.

Thalaivas, hoping for a change of fortunes after successive lastplace finishes in the previous three editions, also added Sri Lanka all-rounder Anwar Saheed Baba and Bangladesh defender Mohammad Tuhin Tarafder to its roster. Both the overseas players were picked up for the base price of Rs 10 lakh after going unsold initially.

It is to be remembered that the Tamil Nadu franchise had retained three New Young Players – Himanshu, Sagar and M Abishek – ahead of the auction. Thalaivas now has a squad size of eight members with a remaining purse amount of Rs 1.58 crore. The team has both its ‘Final Bid Match’ cards intact and would look to use it on the final day.

Pardeep breaks record, gets sold for Rs 1.65 cr

Ace raider Pardeep Narwal became the highest paid player in the history of Pro Kabaddi after getting sold to UP Yoddha for a whopping Rs 1.65 crore at the auction.

Pardeep, who had a base price of Rs 30 lakh, attracted interest from various franchises, but it was UP which decided to break the bank for him. The raider had made it to the auction for the first time after getting released by his previous employer Patna Pirates, whom he led to three PKL titles during his five-year spell.

Siddharth Desai was retained by Telugu Titans that exercised its ‘Final Bid Match’ option when the last bid stood at Rs 1.30 crore. Patna replaced Pardeep with Sachin, who was purchased for Rs 84 lakh. All-rounder Rohit Gulia fetched Rs 83 lakh from Haryana Steelers. Rohit Kumar (Rs 36 lakh to Titans), Rahul Chaudhari (Rs 40 lakh to Puneri Paltan) and Deepak Niwas Hooda (Rs 55 lakh to Jaipur Pink Panthers) could not attract huge bids.