Prime Volleyball League: Ashwal Rai, Karthik, Jerome Vinith emerge top picks in auction

Ashwal Rai, Karthik A and Jerome Vinith were acquired for the highest bids (₹15 lakh each) by Kolkata Thunderbolts, Kochi Blue Spikers and Calicut Heroes respectively in the Prime Volleyball League auction in Kochi on Tuesday.

A total of 24 players in the Platinum and Gold categories went under the hammer in the first session of the day as the seven franchises - the Calicut Heroes, Kochi Blue Spikers, Ahmedabad Defenders, Hyderabad Black Hawks, Chennai Blitz, Bengaluru Torpedoes and the Kolkata Thunderbolts - vied for the best talents.

Over 300 players in the U-21, Silver and Bronze categories will be up for grabs in the second session of the day.

The franchises can select a total of 14 players for their squads, including 12 Indians and two international players.

Read: Prime Volleyball League: Hyderabad Black Hawks to focus on local players from state

While the Indian players were picked through the player auction, the teams hired international players through the Prime Volleyball League International player draft, which had a pool of 14 players.

Players and teams in Prime Volleyball League

The 14 international volleyball players went through the player draft on Tuesday. Aaron Koubi of France (attacker) and American David Lee (blocker) will play for the Calicut Heroes in the upcoming edition of the Prime Volleyball League.

The Calicut Heroes will also see Indian players - Ajithlal C (attacker - ₹8.5 lakh) and Jerome Vinith (universal - ₹15 lakh) in their ranks.

Kochi Blue Spikers picked up international players Colton Cowell and Cody Caldwell (both attackers) from USA and will have Indian players Deepesh Kumar Sinha (₹10.75 lakh) and Karthik A (₹15 lakh) in their team.

Ahmedabad Defenders bolstered their side with American Ryan Meehan (blocker) and Argentina attacker Rodrigo Villalboa. The Indian volleyball players who will be in the team are Muthusamy (setter - ₹10 lakh), Hardeep Singh (attacker - ₹4.4 lakh), Shon T John (attacker - ₹7.25 lakh), Manoj LM (middle blocker - ₹7.25 lakh) and Prabakaran P (libero - ₹4 lakh).

Hyderabad Black Hawks acquired Luis Antonio Arias Guzman from Venezuela (universal) and Henry Bell from Cuba (attacker) as the two international players. Indian players Hariharan V (setter - ₹15 lakh), Vipul Kumar (setter - ₹4.5 lakh), Rohit Kumar (attacker - ₹5.3 lakh) and Amit Gulia (attacker - ₹10 lakh) will play alongside Guzman and Bell in Hyderabad Black Hawks.

Fernando David Gonzalez Rodriguez from Venezuela (attacker) and Bruno Da Silva from Brazil (attacker) will play for the Chennai Blitz team in the inaugural edition of the Prime Volleyball League. The Chennai-based side will also have Indian players Akhin GS (middle blocker - ₹9.75 lakh), Naveen Raja Jacob (attacker - ₹8 lakh), Ukkrapandian Mohan (setter - ₹7.75 lakh) and GR Vaishnav (middle blocker - ₹4 lakh).

Bengaluru Torpedoes acquired USA volleyball players Noah Taitano (universal) and Kyle Friend (attacker) in the international player draft. Indian players Ranjit Singh (setter - ₹4.4 lakh), Pankaj Sharma (attacker - ₹7.5 lakh), Lavmeet Katariya (middle blocker - ₹4.6 lakh), Rohith P (middle blocker - ₹7.5 lakh) and B Midhun Kumar (libero - ₹5.6 lakh) will turn up for the Bengaluru Torpedoes.

Kolkata Thunderbolts picked up another set of two American players, Matthew August (blocker) and Ian Satterfield (universal). The duo will be joined by Indian players Vinit Kumar (universal - ₹8.75 lakh) and Ashwal Rai (middle blocker - ₹15 lakh) in the team.

Joy Bhattacharya, CEO of Prime Volleyball League, said he was happy to see the auction get off to a good start.

“It's been absolutely fantastic to see the franchises construct their squads for the Prime Volleyball League," he said. "Getting off to a good start is always important and we are ecstatic with the way the events have unfolded today. All the franchises have picked their squads smartly and there's still a few more players to be acquired."

The Prime Volleyball League, which will have 24 games in the inaugural edition, will be telecast on the Sony Sports Network.