PKL 9: Which teams spent the most money at the auctions

These franchises splurged the cash on some prominent players.

Across two days of intense bidding, the 12 PKL franchises lifted the paddle for 130 players. A total of ₹50.86 crores was shelled out for a wide array of players. These included present-day superstars like Pawan Sehrawat, Pardeep Narwal and Fazel Atrachali. But, it also had the stars of tomorrow such as Vikash Kandola and Guman Singh. With quality spread across all the teams, these are the five franchises that were the busiest in Mumbai.

5. Bengaluru Bulls- Rs2.73 crores

The Bulls took a gamble by releasing Pawan into the auction PKL pool. They did bid for Sachin and Manjeet as probable backup options. Their plan A was clearly to use the FBM for Pawan, but once Vikash Kandola crossed the ₹1 crore 50 lakh mark, the Bulls resigned to building their team around Vikash.

They spent big on Category C raider Neeraj Narwal and did not feel the need to bolster their defence. A more experienced right cover would have given the team a more threatening edge. However, the hopes of a playoff finish will go down to how coach Randhir Sehrawat works his magic.

4. Tamil Thalaivas- Rs2.82 crores

The auctions were all about getting one man for the Thalaivas, Pawan Sehrawat. The ‘High Flier’ depleted the Thalaivas’ coffers, commanding 51% of the total purse solely for his sale. The issue with this move was that the Thalaivas could not splurge on where they needed strengthening, namely the covers and a support raider.

Surjeet will be missed in that defence in the upcoming PKL and while Sagar did very well in his first season, a relatively inexperienced defence will prompt him to not take as many risks. Without an able support raider to revive Pawan, the player could see himself off the mat for the majority of the 40 minutes, but he guarantees bucket-loads of points whenever he is in the action.

3. Gujarat Giants- Rs3.12 crores

After retaining only one elite player in raider Sonu, Gujarat were very busy in the Season 9 auctions of the PKL and stacked up on category C domestic players. It is interesting that they did not end up with a single Category A player, but value picks like Rinku Narwal at ₹40 lakhs,

Chandran Ranjith at ₹30 lakhs, and Sandeep Kandola at ₹20 lakhs gives them substantial bench strength. This will be a period of rebuilding for the Giants, who have appointed Ram Mehar Singh as head coach after the departure of Manpreet Singh.

2. U Mumba- Rs3.20 crores

The franchisee had to resort to a different outlook quickly after losing out on prime target Pawan Sehrawat. Young stars Guman Singh, Ashish, and the sole retained Elite Player Rinku will be the pillars of the team. They can be a tricky side to tame if the aforementioned trio find their feet quickly.

1. Telugu Titans- Rs3.45 crores

Season 8’s basement dwellers will take a lot of satisfaction with their new recruits, with the strongest-looking starting seven on-paper in the Pro Kabaddi League. Instead of going for the glory buys, the Titans went for sensible picks to plug the gaping holes with quality acquisitions.

None of their buys features in the list of top five costliest picks category-wise, showing that they came in with a game plan for the auction and executed it to perfection. If this unit gels well seamlessly, expect a very strong showing from the Telugu Titans this year.