Six players hit jackpot on Day 1

Raider Monu Goyat was the most expensive player on the first day of the Pro Kabbadi League auction here on Wednesday.

Haryana Steelers bought Goyat for Rs 1.51 crore while Telugu Titans bagged Rahul Choudhary for Rs 1.29 crore.

A total of six players crossed the Rs one crore mark in the auctions. Earlier, Iran’s Fazel Atrachali became the first player in the history of the league to enter the one crore club after he was fetched by U Mumba.

Intense bidding went for the defender, whose base price was set at Rs 20 lakh, but in the end, U Mumba came out winners.

Fazel’s Iranian counterpart Abozar went to Telugu Titans for Rs 76 lakh, while Jang Kun Lee returned to Bengal Warriors, who exercised their Final Bid Match card to retain him for Rs 33 lakh.

On the big purchase, U Mumba team owner, Ronnie Screwvala said: “We wanted to be strong in defence. We had an extremely strong defence in season 1 and season 2 and that was the reason why we bargained for Fazal so fiercely. Fazal is someone who has played with us and we are quite happy to have him back.”

“We wanted to be sure that we got who we wanted rather than going right till the end and then have to hastily pick a player. You need a minimum of two international players, instead, we picked three. We are happy to have the ex-Iranian coach Golan Raza as our coach and his insight helps us to pick international talents right in the beginning.”

Fazel’s said that he was very happy to be back to his “second home – U Mumba.”

“I have immense respect for the U Mumba team. The fact that I was bought for such a huge amount is is truly an incredible feeling,” he said.