The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Auction 2023 is set to take place on September 8 and 9 in Mumbai, the organisers Mashal Sports confirmed on July 3. This time, the 12 franchises' purse of the auction will see an increase of Rs 60 lakh making it a total of Rs 5 crore. With few months to go into the auction, the teams are yet to announce their list of retained and released players.
How many players a PKL team can retain?
A total of six players can be retained by a team ahead of the auction. These players are called 'Elite Retained Players'.
What is the retention policy?
While the teams get to retain six players each, they can use Final Bid Match (FBM) to retain a particular player. For example, if the final bid for a player is Rs 1 crore, then it can be matched by his former team to bring him back to the side.
Categories of players in PKL Auction
Basically, both domestic and overseas players are divided into four categories. The base prices of Category A, B, C and D are Rs 30 lakh, Rs 20 lakh, Rs 13 lakh and Rs 9 lakh respectively. Furthermore, these players are categorised under all-rounders, defenders and raiders.
Big changes ahead of PKL 10 auction
Two major changes have been made ahead of the auction. The auction pool will now have a total of 500 players. The auction pool will also include 24 players from Khelo India University Games 2023's two finalist teams. The purse amount has been increased after three years to make it a round figure of Rs 5 crore.
“The tenth season is obviously such a major milestone for any contemporary sports league in India. The PKL Season X Player Auction too will be a landmark in PKL’s history. Along with the retentions and nominations under the Season X Player Policy, our 12 franchises will use the Player Auction to select the world’s best kabaddi athletes for their teams," said PKL’s league commissioner Anupam Goswami in a media release.
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