PKL 12 Auction: U Mumba use FBM to keep Rinku Sharma

Dabang Delhi had the winning bid for Rinku Sharma at Rs. 21 lakhs.

U Mumba exercised the FBM card to get Rinku Sharma back into their ranks at a price of Rs. 21 lakhs, the Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 (PKL 12) auction. The right corner has secured 192 tackle points in 72 games, at a success rate of 47% with nine high 5s.

The PKL 12 auctions are being held in Mumbai today and tomorrow. A total of 83 players, which include 25 Elite Retained Players (ERP), 23 Retained Young Players (RYP) and 35 New Young Players (NYP), were retained prior to the event. More than 500 players are set to go under the hammer, with a maximum of 217 available slots. This is unarguably the biggest auction in recent years, with some of the biggest names currently in the world of kabaddi, including Pawan Sehrawat, Naveen Kumar, Arjun Deshwal, Devank Dalal, Mohammadreza Shadloui, going under the hammer.

The 24-year-old wasn’t at his best in the previous season, as per the lofty standards set by him. He scored 45 tackle points in 22 matches for U Mumba with no high 5s. More importantly, he had a low strike rate of 41%, a stat which was mainly due to the high volume of mistakes made by him, especially during crucial junctures. U Mumba qualified for the playoffs for the first time since PKL 7 but lost to the Patna Pirates in the Eliminator.

The Tamil Thalaivas made the first bid at Rs. 20 lakhs, with the Dabang Delhi K.C. coming in next. The Thalaivas made just two more bids, before backing off. The season eight champions had the highest bid at Rs. 21 lakhs, but the season two champions pulled out their FBM to retain Rinku for one more season.

A look at Rinku Sharma’s PKL Journey

U Mumba had secured the services of Rinku Sharma, after some intense bidding in PKL 8. The lad from Sonipat, Haryana repaid the faith, racking up 60 tackle points in 22 matches, finishing as the joint second-best right corner in the season.

The stats were even better in the next edition, as he scored 59 tackle points in 19 matches, finishing as the best right corner this time. However, Rinku Sharma suffered an early injury in the tenth instalment of the league, playing just nine matches in which he scored a total of 28 tackle points.

Unfortunately, U Mumba failed to qualify for the playoffs in all three seasons. While they did qualify in the eleventh edition, it was clear that Rinku Sharma was no longer his old self, potentially due to the injury suffered in the previous season.

The team, though, has decided to bet on him again. The right corner, on his part, would now be looking for a revival in the upcoming edition.

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