Top five most expensive players in history of PKL

Many records were smashed in the PKL 9 auctions.

Over the years, the Pro Kabaddi League’s (PKL) auctions has never ceased to surprise and astonish. The value of the players and the franchisee purses keep increasing with each passing season. Higher totals being spent in the auctions year after year has ensured that the trend of the record player fee being breached by a bigger amount the following auction has remained consistent. 

That trend continued in the Season 9 auctions. First, Fazel Atrachali broke his own record to become the highest paid overseas player. Then Bengaluru Bulls pipped Tamil Thalaivas to Vikash Kandola, paying ₹1.75 crores for the services of the player. This was Bulls resigning to the fact of losing Pawan Sehrawat to one of three teams with a much bigger purse: U Mumba, Tamil Thalaivas or Gujarat Giants. 

As expected, U Mumba went hard for Pawan but Thalaivas firmly wanted their man. Before you knew it, Vikash’s record set barely minutes ago was broken and the figure crossed the ₹2 crore mark for the first time ever in the league. Still, both franchises kept bidding with the hope of signing the star. The Bulls watched on, knowing that they will not have the required funds to get him back on an FBM. 

A teary-eyed Randhir Sehrawat owned up to Pawan that he knew he would be sold for over ₹2.20 crores, so he went ahead and secured Vikash as the lead raider. The Bulls' faithful displayed both rage and sorrow on social media. Here are the top five costliest PKL auction purchases over the years. 

5. Siddharth Desai - Rs1.45 crores (Telugu Titans, 2019)

Filling the massive boots of Rahul Chaudhari meant that Telugu Titans had to go big for ‘Baahubali’ Siddharth Desai. Siddharth took to the PKL like a duck to water, shattering the records for the fastest to 50, 100 and 200 raid points in 2019 and totalled 217 points. Two seasons later, he again went for big money, but an injury hampered his performances in a nightmare season for the Titans. 

4. Monu Goyat – Rs1.51 crores (Haryana Steelers, 2018)

After taking the league by storm as a support raider to Pardeep Narwal, Monu Goyat became a part of the Haryana Steelers, who took a huge punt on the Indian Army Junior Commissioned Officer. While the season ended in massive disappointment and the wooden spoon, Goyat managed a 50% Super 10 rate. 

3. Pardeep Narwal – Rs1.65 crores (UP Yoddha, 2021)

Patna’s prodigal son was released to the auctions after five stellar trophy-laden seasons in the Pirates’ green. The bids kept flying in and the price soared. When Patna refused the FBM, the active bid was ₹1.65 crores to UP Yoddha. This made Pardeep Narwal the most expensive player in PKL history and showcased the rapid progression the league has gone through. 

2. Vikash Kandola – Rs1.70 crores (Bengaluru Bulls, 2022)

One thing that stands out about Vikash is his maturity beyond his years and consistency. Averaging 150+ raid points from the last three seasons, Vikash will take over from where Pawan left off. He is the best left raider in the country and seems to be getting better with experience, captaining the Steelers to a mid-table finish. 

He spends a greater percentage of time on the mat than Pawan, who struggled to remain impactful for over 40 minutes and would rather score heaps of points in small bursts. Having a reliable raid point scorer like Vikash can enable the Bulls to prioritize their defence without having to play on do-or-die raids. Vikash will be a good fit at the Bulls, but Pawan will be missed, no matter what. 

1. Pawan Kumar Sehrawat – Rs2.26 crores (Tamil Thalaivas, 2022) 

If there was one name designed to soar above the rest, it is ‘High flier’ Pawan Kumar Sehrawat. The Bulls releasing him into the auctions was a big surprise. Numbers began flying around but deep down many observers had rightfully punted on Pawan to cross the ₹2 crores mark in the auctions. U Mumba were silently waiting for him, after having passed on the opportunity to re-sign Abhishek Singh. The Thalaivas did the same for their top points-scorer Manjeet and knew that the Bulls do not have the funds to use the RTM on Pawan if the bid crosses ₹2 crores, as they had just broken the bank for Vikash Kandola. And so, after a mega battle between U Mumba and Tamil Thalaivas, Pawan will play down south. The final amount bid was ₹2.26 crores. 

Rakesh Kumar was purchased for ₹12.80 lakhs in Season 1 back in 2014. It is incredible how the indigenous sport of Kabaddi has grown in the span of eight years. Let us see where the future takes us.