Pro Kabaddi League Season-8 Returns With Player Auction In August

New Delhi: The return of the highly anticipated Pro Kabaddi League, starting with the Season-8 Player Auction that will take place between August 29th and 31st, 2021. The organizers are planning to commence Season 8 of the vivo Pro Kabaddi League in December 2021, in complete compliance with the health and safety regulations set by the Government of India.

The Season-8 Player Auctions will initiate a grand return of the league after a gap of nearly two years. This Player Auction will see Domestic, Overseas, and New Young Players (NYPs) divided into four categories: Category A, B, C and D. Within each category, the players will be further sub-divided as ‘All-Rounders’, ‘Defenders’ and ‘Raiders’. Base prices for each of the categories are Category A – INR 30 Lakhs, Category B – INR 20 Lakhs, Category C – INR 10 Lakhs, Category D – INR 6 Lakhs. The total Salary Purse applicable to each Franchisee for its squad for Season 8 is INR 4.4 Crores. The Season 8 Player Pool has been expanded to 500+ athletes including all squad players from PKL Season 6 and 7, as well as all players who have represented the top 8 ranked teams of the AKFI Senior Men’s National Kabaddi Championships of 2020 and 2021 amongst others. 

Speaking about the PKL Season 8 Player Auctions, Deepak Hooda, Captain of the PKL Team, Jaipur Pink Panthers in Season 6 and 7 and Captain of the Indian National Kabaddi Team at the 2019 South Asian Games, said, “It’s been a tough year for athletes across all sports, and as a kabaddi player, I have been eagerly awaiting the resumption of the Pro Kabaddi League and look forward to the Player Auctions which is an event that every kabaddi player will have their eyes set on. I am sure that Mashal Sports will conduct a successful auction and it will be interesting to see the strategies that the various teams will deploy.”

Captain of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup winning Indian National Kabaddi Team and coach of the PKL Team Puneri Paltan, Anup Kumar, said, “The announcement of the player auction dates could not have come at a better time for all kabaddi players. It has been a long wait, but players have been working hard on their skills and fitness. All eyes will be on the plethora of young talent available at the auction. I am sure that all teams will come well prepared for the auction.”

Before going into the auction, the PKL teams are also expected to exercise their choice of retention of PKL Season 7 squads as per the league policies. For each PKL Season, teams are allowed to retain up to six players under the Elite Retained Players category and up to six New Young Players (NYPs) under stipulated conditions.