Mumbai, Aug 16 : Sachin emerged as the most expensive buy on Day 1 of the Player Auction for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 11 held in Mumbai on Thursday. He was acquired for INR 2.15 crore by Tamil Thalaivas. Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh emerged as the most expensive foreign player of the auction, bought for a whopping INR 2.07 crore by Haryana Steelers. He became the first foreign player to be bought for over INR 2 crore in consecutive Player Auctions.

A total of 20 players were sold to the 12 franchise teams with as many as three Final Bid Match (FBM) cards being used on Day 1. Bengal Warriorz, Telugu Titans and Gujarat Giants utilised the FBM card for Maninder Singh, Pawan Sehrawat and Sombir respectively.

PKL stars break record

This Player Auction witnessed a record number of players in the Rs 1 crore club in PKL's history. Sachin, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh, Guman Singh, Pawan Sehrawat, Bharat, Maninder Singh, Ajinkya Pawar and Sunil Kumar were part of the 1 crore club in Thursday's Player Auction. Sunil Kumar, who went to U Mumba for INR 1.15 crore, became the most expensive Indian defender ever.

The player with the most raid points in the history of PKL -- Pardeep Narwal was acquired by Bengaluru Bulls for INR 70 lakh, meanwhile, the veteran defender Surjeet Singh was bought by Jaipur Pink Panthers for INR 60 lakh.

Speaking on behalf of Mashal Sports, organisers of the event, Anupam Goswami, League Commissioner, said, 'It was absolutely riveting to watch multiple records being broken in the PKL Season 11 Player Auction. We are filled with pride to see eight players cross the 1 crore mark today and Sunil become the most expensive Indian defender ever. The exciting buys will continue on Day 2 and we are eagerly waiting for the action to unfold."

When asked about joining Bengaluru Bulls, PKL's most successful raider Pardeep Narwal said, "It feels really good to go back to the team I started with in my PKL journey. I'm looking forward to playing with the young players on the Bulls' side. I am hoping to cross 1800 raid points in my career."

Meanwhile, Maninder Singh, who went back to Bengal Warriorz for INR 1.15 crore said, "I am very happy to be back. I will look to perform even better than last season and Bengal Warriorz has always been a home to me. The team is like a family and I have played with them for 6 years so I am very happy to be back."

/IANS