It’s getting bigger and better for kabaddi players

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 24

Nitin Tomar still can't believe his luck. It's been two days since the raider from Uttar Pradesh became the most expensive player ever in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), attracting a Rs 93-lakh bid from Team UP.

Tomar fell just Rs 7 lakh short of becoming the first crorepati of the sport, but commanding a bid as big as he did is still giving him the goose bumps. “This is surreal, the feeling is yet to sink in,” Tomar told The Tribune from Malakpur village in Baghpat district.

“My base price was Rs 20 lakh and I was expecting somewhere between Rs 45-50 lakh. But to get Rs 93 lakh is crazy. I had to pinch myself twice to believe it was actually happening. I will use this money for my elder sister's marriage, renovating our ancestral house and purchasing farmland,” an excited Tomar rattled out his priorities.

Well, it's not just Tomar alone who has had a windfall. A majority of kabaddi players who went under the hammer and were picked by different franchises at the recently-concluded Premier Kabaddi League auction have more or less similar tale to share. Be it Haryana's Rohit Kumar (Rs 81 lakh), Manjeet Chillar (75.5 lakh), Rajesh Narwal (69 lakh), Sandeep Narwal (66 lakh) and Amit Hooda (63 lakh) or Tamil Nadu's Selvamani K (73 lakh) or Jeeva Kumar (52 lakh), they have been laughing all the way to the banks.

This PKL auction has broken new grounds, with the franchises not shying away from investing crores in the country's ancient and traditional sport. It's heartening to see kabaddi's rise from a ragtag sport to the glitzy and glamorous event played in neon-lighted arenas. The growth has been staggering, considering that the league started just three years back in 2014 and is entering into its fifth edition.

For the record, when the inaugural edition was held, veteran all-rounder Rakesh Kumar was the most expensive player at Rs 12.8 lakh. Last year, Mohit Chillar attracted the highest bid of Rs 53 lakh. But, this time around 20 Indian players have got more than Rs 50 lakh from different franchises.

The foreign players, too, got richer by many folds. While South Korean Jan Kun Lee got Rs 80.3 lakh as retention fee, Iranian players Abozar Mohajermighani (Rs 50 lakh), Abolfazel Maghsodlo (31.8 lakh) and Farhad Rahimi (Rs 29 lakh), among others, drew a handsome amount.

A total of Rs 46.99 crore was spent by the franchises on purchasing 227 players over two days' of the auction. The auction purse was also increased from last year's Rs 2 crore per franchise to Rs 4 crore this edition.  

The league has definitely got bigger and better. This year, four new franchises from UP, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Haryana have joined the PKL bandwagon to take the number of teams to 12. Also the league would have more than 130 matches spread over 13 weeks. The previous four editions of the league had a three-week window.           

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that PKL has become the most sought-after professional league after the trend-setter Indian Premier League (IPL) — both in terms of TV viewership and spectators' attendance at the venues.

Had it not been the case, why Star Sports would have splurged Rs 50 crore to retain the broadcasting rights of the league? Similarly, why Chinese mobile phone manufacturer, VIVO, would have inked a five-year deal as the official title sponsor for a whopping Rs 300 crore? All these numbers indicate that the profile of kabbadi is on the rise.

“PKL has come a long way since its launch and the crowd interest and TV viewership have been tremendous. It's a win-win situation for the corporates, sponsors, spectators and players. IPL has a serious competition from the PKL,” said Parth Jindal, Director, JSW Sports, and owner of newly-inducted Haryana Steelers team.