As Pro Kabaddi entered its seventh edition and the auction allowing the franchises to reframe their teams, we look at how the owners retained the best players, identified young talents, and selected foreign players to cover all the bases in their squad.
BENGAL WARRIORS
The semi-finalists of the last season have made most out of the auction. They retained two players and bought a total 12 players. The most expensive purchase for them was that of Manu Goyat - the raider being bought for a whopping INR 93 Lakhs.
| BENGAL WARRIORS |
| Retained Players | 2 |
| Retention Amount | 0.68 Cr |
| Players Bought | 14 |
| Players Bought Amt | 3.19 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.87 Cr |
BENGALURU BULLS
The defending champions made some smart decisions to retain the core players who helped them win the league in 2018-19. Retaining three players and buying a total of 8 players in total, their costliest purchase from the auction was Mahendra Singh, the defender was bought for INR 80 lakhs.
| BENGALURU BULLS |
| Retained Players | 3 |
| Retention Amount | 1.65 Cr |
| Players Bought | 8 |
| Players Bought Amt | 1.57 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.22 Cr |
DABANG DELHI
Dabang Delhi retained only 2 players of their previous squad and bought 10 players from the auction pool - spending only INR 98 Lakhs. They were quite active in this auction, spending INR 2.64 crores to get the players. The major amount was spent in order to acquire the services of raider Chandran Ranjit – INR 70 lakhs, defender Ravinder Pahal – INR 61 lakhs, and all-rounder Vijay Malik – INR 41 lakhs.
| DABANG DELHI KC |
| Retained Players | 2 |
| Retention Amount | 0.98 Cr |
| Players Bought | 10 |
| Players Bought Amt | 2.64 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.62 Cr |
GUJARAT FORTUNEGIANTS
The runners-up of last season retained only two players from their previous squad. Also, they bought 12 players from this auction to set up their entire team. They broke their bank in order to get Parvesh Bhainswal – INR 75 lakhs. Most of the players that were acquired came in for around INR 15 to 20 lakhs, because of which which they shelled out INR 2.4 crores.
| GUJARAT FORTUNEGIANTS |
| Retained Players | 2 |
| Retention Amount | 1.06 Cr |
| Players Bought | 12 |
| Players Bought Amt | 2.4 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.46 Cr |
HARYANA STEELERS
Steelers had a very dismal performance last season as they finished at the bottom of Zone A. They retained only 2 players - Kuldeep Singh and Vikas Khandola Haryana Steelers bought 10 players in the auction pool. The costliest buy was Prashanth Kumar Rai for INR 77 Lakhs.
| HARAYANA STEELERS |
| Retained Players | 2 |
| Retention Amount | 0.57 Cr |
| Players Bought | 10 |
| Players Bought Amt | 2.58 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.15 Cr |
JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS
The winner of inaugural season couldn’t put their best foot forward in last season. This season they retained Deepak Niwas Hooda and Sandeep Kumar Dhull. During the auction, they bought 9 players with defender AmitHooda retained by matching the bid of INR 53 Lakhs.
| JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS |
| Retained Players | 2 |
| Retention Amount | 1.81 Cr |
| Players Bought | 9 |
| Players Bought Amt | 1.78 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.59 Cr |
PATNA PIRATES
The 3-time champions Patna Pirates retained four players to maintain the core team - which includes raider Pradeep Narwal, all-rounder Vikas Jaglan, and defender Jawahar Dagar. The best part of the auction this time was that they bought Bengal Warriors raider Jang Kun Lee for INR 40 lakhs which strengthened their attack.
| PATNA PIRATES |
| Retained Players | 4 |
| Retention Amount | 1.02 Cr |
| Players Bought | 9 |
| Players Bought Amt | 2.7 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.72 Cr |
PUNERI PALTAN
Puneri Paltan didn’t retain any of their players and decided to develop a fresh squad. They bought 13 players from the auction and in total they spent INR 3.95 crores to form their squad. Their most expensive buy was raider Nitin Tomar for INR 1.2 crores, followed by raider Manjeet for INR 63 lakhs and defender Surjeet Singh for INR 56 lakhs.
| PUNERI PALTAN |
| Retained Players | -- |
| Retention Amount | -- |
| Players Bought | 13 |
| Players Bought Amt | 3.95 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.95 Cr |
TAMIL THALAIVAS
Thalaivas had a dismal season last time as they finished at the bottom of the table in Zone B. Still they trusted some of their key players and retained 3 of them which includes Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chillar and Victor Onyango Obiero. In the auction, they bought 8 more players, mostly putting money on raider Rahul Chaudhari who was acquired for INR 94 lakhs.
| TAMIL THALAIVAS |
| Retained Players | 3 |
| Retention Amount | 0.96 Cr |
| Players Bought | 8 |
| Players Bought Amt | 2.66 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.62 Cr |
TELUGU TITANS
Titans focused on retaining their core as they retained three important players of their squad. Armaan, Farhad Rahimi Milaghardan and Krushna Madane were the retained players. 10 players were on-boarded by the Titans, and they acquired raider Siddharth Desai for a hefty amount of INR 1.45 crores.
| TELUGU TITANS |
| Retained Players | 3 |
| Retention Amount | 0.51 Cr |
| Players Bought | 11 |
| Players Bought Amt | 3.52 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 4.03 Cr |
U MUMBA
The Mumbai based franchise U Mumba also retained three of their best players in the squad. The retained players were Fazal Atrachali, Rajguru Subramanian and Arjun Deshwal. 10 players were bought in the auction and INR 89 lakhs spent to get the services of all-rounder Sandeep Narwal.
| U MUMBA |
| Retained Players | 3 |
| Retention Amount | 1.2 Cr |
| Players Bought | 10 |
| Players Bought Amt | 2.29 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.49 Cr |
UP YODDHAS
UP Yoddhas retained only two players from their last squad. Amit Narwal and Sachin Kumar were the retained players. In total, ten players were bought in the auction and raider Manu Goyat was acquired for INR 93 lakhs.
| UP YODDHAS |
| Retained Players | 2 |
| Retention Amount | 0.27 Cr |
| Players Bought | 10 |
| Players Bought Amt | 3.09 Cr |
| Total expenditure | 3.36 Cr |
OVERALL REVIEW
It is evident that all the teams have remodelled their squad very strategically to make sure that all players for different roles are available. Only Puneri Paltan did not retain anyone, while Jaipur Pink Panthers and Bengaluru Bulls spent the most to retain their best players. Bengal Warriors, Puneri Paltan, Telugu Titans, and UP Yoddhas spent mostly on the pool of players available during auction to get their squads ready.
The balance is looking very good for all the teams, but only after the league starts that the actual strength of the franchises will be tested.