PKL 2023: Total Number of Players To go Under The Hammer

The 12 teams of the Pro Kabaddi League are all set for the upcoming PKL player auction. The tournament is scheduled to take place in the final quarter of 2023, and the auction is expected to take place very soon.

Ahead of the auction, the 12 teams will have an opportunity to retain some players and release those who don't fit into their plan.

In the last edition, we had Superstar Raiders Pawan Sehrawat and Pardeep Narwal were released ahead of the PKL season 9. 

The veterans ended up as top buys in the PKL 9 auction which took place in Mumbai on August 5th and 6th last year. 

In fact, Pawan Sehrawat broke several records by becoming the highest-paid PKL player when Tamil Thalaivas went crazy for him and bought him for a whopping 2.26 Crores.

Pardeep Narwal was one of the four players to cross the 1 Crore mark last season. 

The PKL 10 Auction is also a good place for many teams to start fresh. At times, the team might not get their composition right and would have to start fresh. Teams like Bengal Warriors, and Gujarat Giants did the same when they decided to let go of almost every single member of the team. 

In fact, many teams decided to let go of their season captain for various reasons. 

This edition will not be any different when it comes to letting go of the stars. Over 111 players, including youngsters, were retained by teams in the last edition. However, one can expect much less retention this time as there would be more players going under the hammer. The total number of players going under the hammer is likely to cross 550 this time. In the last edition, it was just over 500. 

The players are likely to send in the retention list soon, and one shouldn't be surprised if teams decide to let go of the stars. The upcoming Asia Championships and the Khelo Games will play a major role in the selection process. All 12 franchises will be keeping an eye on what is happening in the tournament as they would opt for these in-form players.

Also, in the last edition, the Raiders were in demand. Most teams looked out to buy more Raiders. It was one reason why Pawan Sehrawat and Pardeep Narwal ended up with whopping contracts. This time we expect the same from the franchises but with more than 550 players going under the hammer, it will be interesting to see who gets the composition right. 

Right before the auction in 2022, Anupam Goswami, CEO, of Sports League, Disney Star India and League Commissioner, VIVO Pro Kabaddi League said that the auction would witness some bidding wars. 

“Some of the star performers of VIVO Pro Kabaddi have a fan following across the country and we believe that this auction will witness some interesting bidding wars. This will lead to the creation of new team squads and an increased level of competition in the upcoming season 9,” he said. The above statement holds good for the upcoming season as well. 

One can expect an update regarding player retention very soon. Once the list is out, we will have a clearer idea regarding the teams' plan during the auction.