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The 2019 Pro Kabaddi League player auction is done and dusted as the coaches and the team management of all teams now look forward to the seventh season of the Pro Kabaddi League, which commences in the month of July.
Siddharth Sirish Desai emerged as the costliest player from the player auction as the Telugu Titans submitted a stunning bid of ₹1.45 crores to get the raider in their squad. Desai will have to fill in the big shoes of Rahul Chaudhari who moved to the Tamil Thalaivas in the auction.
However, apart from these big money purchases, the teams also made full use of smart budgeting techniques to get some marquee names in their squad at a low price.
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Here's a look at the top 5 bargain buys from the auction.
#5 Abolfazl Maghsoudlou - Gujarat Fortune Giants
Gujarat Fortune Giants are perhaps the unluckiest franchise in Pro Kabaddi League currently. Despite playing like champions in the league stage, the Ahmedabad-based franchise has struggled to execute the final step to the title properly.
They have reached the grand finale of the last two editions yet finished as runners-up.
However, they are known to make some smart purchases in the auction as they always tend to invest in youth. In this year's auction, they bought a rather experienced player at a low price when they signed Abolfazl Maghsoudlou for a price of ₹15.95 lakhs.
The Iranian raider has immense experience of playing in the Pro Kabaddi League. Also, he has 147 points to his name in the 41 matches he has played. The most important statistic of his career is his not out percentage (76.58).
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#4 Selvamani K. - Haryana Steelers
Unlike last year, Haryana Steelers did not spend big on a single player this year. Instead, they opted to make the maximum use of the available funds and build a good squad. They had retained the services of Vikash Khandola before the auction and then went for Prashant Kumar Rai in the auction room.
To make their raiding department even stronger, the Steelers bought Selvamani K. for a price of ₹16.5 lakhs.
The domestic raider has phenomenal raiding skills but the only thing which goes against him are his fitness levels. Selvamani has to stay on the bench because of his injury issues and thus, the teams might not have gone behind him this year.
Overall, he has 2 Super 10s to his name in his Pro Kabaddi League career and has an impressive not out percentage of 79.87.
#3 Rishank Devadiga - UP Yoddha
Maharashtra-born Rishank Devadiga was amongst the first 7 'Crorepatis' of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League last year. However, the raider could not perform well in the previous season, majorly because of his injury woes. He could only register a single super 10 for UP Yoddha in the entire season.
Thus, the Lucknow-based franchise released him ahead of the auction. Many fans expected the Yoddhas to buy Rishank back at a lower price and that is what the team management did.
They used their Final Bid Match to buy Devadiga back at a price of ₹61 lakhs, almost half of the price they paid last year.
Rishank has 594 points to his name in the Pro Kabaddi League, with a career-best of 28 points in one match. He is immensely talented and this year, he will get the support of Monu Goyat in the raiding department.
#2 Nilesh Salunkhe - Jaipur Pink Panthers
If there was one team which completely failed to live up to the fans' expectations, it was Jaipur Pink Panthers. Despite having the likes of Deepak Niwas Hooda, Anup Kumar and Mohit Chhillar in the squad, the pink franchise failed to make it to the playoffs. The team even struggled to get their perfect playing seven in the entire season.
So, this year the Pink Panthers thought of making some bargain buys in the auction and amongst the bargain purchases they made, raider Nilesh Salunkhe was one. The Jaipur-based franchise bought the Maharastra-born raider for a price of ₹23.5 lakhs.
Salunkhe has over 250 raid points to his name in his Pro Kabaddi League career and he even has 4 Super 10s registered to his name, which shows the potential he has.
#1 Shabeer Bappu - Tamil Thalaivas
The man who won U Mumba the final of VIVO Pro Kabaddi League season 2 with his splendid raid, Shabeer Bappu has struggled to stay match-fit ever since leaving U Mumba. He has even played for Dabang Delhi KC and Jaipur Pink Panthers in the PKL.
Shabeer found himself in the auction room once again this year and surprisingly he was picked up by Tamil Thalaivas for a mere ₹10 lakhs.
Shabeer Bappu is undoubtedly the biggest steal of the auction. With a staggering amount of experience and 207 points in his name, the toe touch specialist will prove to be a match-winner for Tamil Thalaivas.
Also Read - Pro Kabaddi League 2019 Auction: Full list of players bought by Tamil Thalaivas
The south Indian franchise even have Ajay Thakur and Rahul Chaudhari in their raiding department. This trio will make sure that Tamil Thalaivas have the most formidable raiding unit in this year's Pro Kabaddi League.
Who do you think was the biggest steal of this year's PKL auction? Have your say in the comments box below.
