India's new crorepati kabaddi players grab eyeballs

The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 11 Player Auction, which began in Mumbai on Thursday, saw an unprecedented number of players joining the INR 1 crore club, marking a new milestone in the league's history. Eight players, namely Sachin Tanwar, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh, Guman Singh, Pawan Sehrawat, Bharat, Maninder Singh, Ajinkya Pawar and Sunil Kumar entered the cash-rich group during the auction.Sunil Kumar, who was acquired by U Mumba for INR 1.015 crore, set a new record by becoming the most expensive Indian defender in the history of the league. However, the highest bid of the day was for Sachin Tanwar, who was bought by Tamil Thalaivas for an impressive sum of INR 2.15 crore.The first day of the auction witnessed a total of 20 players being sold to the 12 participating franchise teams. Three teams, namely Bengal Warriorz, Telugu Titans, and Gujarat Giants, exercised their Final Bid Match (FBM) cards to secure the services of Maninder Singh, Pawan Sehrawat and Sombir, respectively.Haryana Steelers secured the services of Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh for a staggering INR 2.07 crore. According to a PKL release, Chiyaneh has now become the first international player to command a price tag exceeding INR 2 crore in two consecutive Player Auctions.In other notable acquisitions, Bengaluru Bulls successfully bid for Pardeep Narwal, the player with the highest number of raid points in PKL history, for INR 70 lakh. Jaipur Pink Panthers, on the other hand, added the experienced defender Surjeet Singh to their roster for INR 60 lakh."It was absolutely riveting to watch multiple records being broken in the PKL Season 11 Player Auction. We are filled with pride to see 8 players cross the INR 1 crore mark today and Sunil become the most expensive Indian defender ever. The exciting buys will continue on day 2 and we are eagerly waiting for the action to unfold," a PKL release quoted Anupam Goswami, PKL's League Commissioner.On joining Bengaluru Bulls, star raider Pardeep said, "It feels really good to go back to the team I started with in my PKL journey. I'm looking forward to playing with the young players on the Bulls side. I am hoping to cross 1800 raid points in my career."On his return to the Bengal Warriorz set-up for a sum of INR 1.15 crore, Maninder said, "I am very happy to be back. I will look to perform even better than last season and Bengal Warriorz has always been a home to me. The team is like a family and I have played with them for 6 years so I am very happy to be back."