PKL Auction 2018: Telecast, live streaming, date, start time and where to watch online

Modified May 30, 2018 21:49 IST

Anup Kumar will be part of the auctions after spending five seasons with U Mumba. How much will he be bought for?

Following the conclusion of a thrilling Indian Premier League, the time now has come to celebrate yet another sport in India, one that has grown with time and blossomed over the past five seasons.

This is the occasion to celebrate some of the finest talents in India, who will rub shoulders with some of the best players across the globe, in a sport loved across the world that goes by the name of Kabaddi.

Come the 30th of May 2018, the air will be buzzing with excitement, as Mumbai will host the Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 auctions, that is set to feature a total of 422 players, inclusive of 58 overseas players and 87 players from the Future Kabaddi Heroes Programme (FKH), a nationwide scouting programme built to nurture prodigious kabaddi talents in the country.

Get ready to witness some thrilling auctioneering, heated discussions amidst confusing laughs as the PKL auctions are here and will take place on the 30th and 31st of May, 2018 in Mumbai. Here's everything you need to know.

422 players, five categories, what are the base prices?

Ahead of the auctions, a total of 21 elite players were retained across nine teams, with U Mumba, Jaipur Pink Panthers, and the U.P Yodda opting to revamp their squads.

This time, the players as part of the auction will be divided into four main categories A, B, C, and D while the final category will be that of the new young players. Each team is given a total purse of ₹4 crore and the base price is as follows

Category A - ₹20 lakh

Category B - ₹12 lakh

Category C - ₹8 lakh

Category D - ₹5 lakh

New Young players - Fixed price of ₹6.6 lakh

Introduction of the 'Final Bid Match' card

In a massive boost to the auctions and teams' strategies, this edition is sure to benefit from the 'Final Bid Match' card, which will offer the franchises to procure back the services of their players from the previous season by matching the final bid on that particular player.

For example, if Manjeet Chhillar is procured for a price of '₹ X lakh', where X is a random number, the Jaipur Pink Panthers can match the bid of ₹ X lakh and get Manjeet Chhillar back on their team.

According to the regulations set, a team which has retained a total of four elite players will be offered just one card whereas teams with three or lesser retentions can exercise the card option two times. This means that the Patna Pirates and Puneri Paltan will be given only one card while the other teams can use the 'Final Bid Match' card on two occasions.

Bid-o-Meter, an exciting new prospect?

The Bid-o-Meter, introduced for the first time will be used to determine the magnitude of the purchase of each player.

Divided as fair/good/ambitious, the new addition will be seen during the purchases of the 'Category A' players and an analytical algorithm, will determine the buy using certain parameters which are divided into two categories.

75% of the weightage will fall on the players' performance in Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 while the remaining 25% will depend on their efficiency from seasons 1-4 to go with the 'player demand-supply', another parameter to determine the range of the buy.

At the beginning of the bid, every player will be allotted a 'fair price range'. If the bid falls below the range, the bid will be deemed a 'Steal'. If the price falls in the range it will be termed as a 'Fair Buy' and if it exceeds the range, then it will be called as an 'Ambitious buy'.

Additional Information

Each team can be comprised of 18-25 players with a maximum of 2-4 foreign players per team. Only a maximum of three players can be chosen from the Future Kabaddi Heroes 2018 programme and all of these picks should be made within the stipulated total purse of ₹4 crore rupees.