"It's a strategy to make the other teams spend their money"-Owners at the PHL Auctions

The inaugural Premier Handball League (PHL) is all set to kickoff from 8th June. As we near the season, we take a detailed look at how the teams stack up.

Team: Maharashtra Ironmen

Goalkeepers: Alexander Lesnik, Rajat Khatkar, Naveen Deshwal

Center Backs: Manjeet Kumar, Sumeet Kumar

Right Backs: Mohit Punia, Ankit Kumar, Mohammed Sohail Akhtar, Jalal Kiani

Left Backs: Vijay Thakur, Vishal Dabas, Jasim Mohammed

Right Wings: Sunil Sharma, Ankit Kumar

Left Wings: Sumit Ghanghas, Mitul

Pivots: Ranjeet Singh, Shubham Sharma

Owned by entrepreneur Punit Balan, Maharashtra Ironmen have assembled a formidable squad with big international names such as Alexander Lesnik and Jalal Kiani.

Talking about how his team fared in the auctions, Punit said, "The auctions were pretty good. We picked the players we wanted. Every auction has plans A and B. Where our plan A didn’t work, we went to plan B. I am completely satisfied with my team."

The auction purse is one of the biggest parts of any team's strategy and Punit emphasised the same.

"The whole time my head was calculating the purse of each team. It is an obvious strategy if you can make the other teams spend their money," laughed Punit.

Punit is an experienced team owner with teams in other leagues such as kho kho, tennis, table tennis, and badminton.

Talking about his investment in handball, Punit told The Bridge, "We as an organization support a lot of sports including tennis, table tennis, and badminton. Handball is a thrilling game much like kho kho where we have a team. Handball is also an internationally famous game, so the decision to invest here was easy."

"Unless someone takes the initiative, nothing will happen. Kabaddi is an example, when it started, nobody had an idea where it will go but it is one of the most successful leagues in the country," Punit concluded with the hope of Handball growing after the league.

Team: Telugu Talons

Goalkeepers: Andrei Igorevich Nedbailo, Rahul TK, Sombir

Center Backs: Anil Khudia, Ajay Moyal

Right Backs: Vishal Hadia, Mohit Kumar, Rey Joshua Tabuzo

Left Backs: Shubham Sheoran, Davinder Bhullar, Iaroslav Alexandrovich Shabanov

Right Wings: Naseeb Singh, Chirag Chandel

Left Wings: Kailash Patel, Mohit Yadav

Pivots: Rahul Nain, Raghu Kumara

Another team owner with a plethora of experience in Indian leagues, Abhishek Reddy is happy with the way he has built his team.

"This is my ninth auction with different teams, the auction is pretty well. We have put on a good team which I am proud of. The auction has gone very well and we have happy faces around," Abhishek told The Bridge.

Known for his investment in non-cricketing sports, Abhishek is the owner of Hyderabad Hawks in the Prime Volleyball League, and Bengaluru Raports in the Premier Badminton League.

Talking about the franchise league landscape, Abhishek said, "All the leagues in India are garnering attention which also helps the players in getting recognition. Local presence has increased in the team which leads to a good connection with the fans."

"We are one of the most marketed teams in volleyball and we will replicate the same here. The key is to put in the same amount of hard work both on the field and off the field," Abhishek concluded with a smile.