Maninder Singh joins Pawan Sehrawat in PKL’s two-crore club

Before the start of the milestone tenth Pro Kabaddi season, more than 500 players from across the world went under the hammer in the recently concluded Player Auction in Mumbai. There were quite a few players for whom the 12 PKL teams engaged in intense bidding wars. 

The raiders were in demand once again at the auction table as teams paid huge amounts to get the best available in-form raiders on their side. Some of the teams will be ecstatic after signing top value for money raiders in their team. Let’s take a look at the most expensive raiders sold at the PKL Season 10 Player Auction.

Most expensive raiders at Pro Kabaddi Season 10 Player Auction 

Pawan Sehrawat | Telugu Titans | ₹ 2.605 crore

Though the Hi-Flyer was drafted in Category B, he was expected to be among the top signings at the Player Auction. His base price was ₹ 20 lacs but it went up to more than a crore in a flash, Telugu Titans went all in to add the captain of the Indian kabaddi team to their side. Sehrawat’s former team Bengaluru Bulls also tried their best to get him back into their team but they couldn’t stay in contention during the bidding. After an intense bidding war between Haryana Steelers and Telugu Titans, the latter managed to secure the services of Pawan Sehrawat for a whopping ₹ 2.605 crore ahead of PKL Season 10. 

Maninder Singh | Bengal Warriors | ₹ 2.12 crore

Maninder Singh, who is in second spot in the all-time raid points leaderboard with 1231 raid points, was released by Bengal Warriors before the Player Auction. Super Mani, who was listed in Category A, was in demand by plenty of teams. Patna Pirates, Telugu Titans, Bengaluru Bulls and Dabang Delhi K.C. were seen going after him at the auction. However, Bengal Warriors played it smart by exercising their Final Bid Match (FBM) card to retain Maninder in the squad for ₹ 2.12 crore. With this, Maninder Singh became the most expensive FBM buy in PKL history and only the second player in the two crore club.

Siddharth Desai | Haryana Steelers | ₹ 1 crore

Baahubali Siddharth Desai is one of the raiders who is known for consistently displaying his strength and agility on the mat. The Category B raider was released by Telugu Titans ahead of the Season 10 Player Auction. He was the pick of the players for Telugu Titans in Season 9 and the franchises have seen plenty of quality performances from him in Pro Kabaddi. Bengaluru Bulls and Haryana Steelers seemed keen to have Siddharth Desai in their side. However, after some persistent bidding, it was the Steelers who secured a deal and snapped Siddharth Desai for ₹ 1 crore ahead of Season 10. 

Ashu Malik | Dabang Delhi K.C. | ₹ 96.25 lac

Dabang Delhi K.C. retained Ashu Malik in their side for a third consecutive season after using the FBM card for the young raider. Ashu has been in and around Pro Kabaddi from Season 8 and he has become a valuable asset for Dabang Delhi K.C.. He complimented his Season 9 captain Naveen Kumar in attack and knows the art of successful raids. Even though Bengaluru Bulls and Tamil Thalaivas tried to bid for him at the Season 10 auction, it was Dabang Delhi K.C. who bought Ashu back to their side with the help of their FBM card.

Meetu Sharma | Dabang Delhi K.C. | ₹ 93 lac

Meetu Sharma has been a part of Pro Kabaddi since Season 8 and he stamped his authority as the second best raider for Haryana Steelers in the previous edition. There were as many as four teams who were involved in the bidding for Meetu but it was Dabang Delhi K.C. who managed to secure the deal. They roped him into their side for ₹ 93 lac. It was one of the best signings at the Player Auction for Dabang Delhi K.C. and it significantly strengthened their squad for the upcoming season.