Manjeet Chhillar becomes costliest player in Pro Kabaddi at Rs 75.5 lakh

Chhillar was snapped up by Jaipur Pink Panthers for record breaking amount

The player auction for the 2017 edition of the Pro Kabaddi league was off to a flying start as records were broken almost immediately. All-rounder Manjeet Chhillar was picked up by Abhishek Bachchan-owned Jaipur Pink Panthers for a staggering Rs 75.5 lakh. The reserve price for bidding on Chhillar was Rs 20 lakh, but bidding started at Rs 30 lakh after the teams agreed to do so.

With 12 teams bidding, each having Rs 4 crore at their disposal to acquire players, this year’s auction has the heaviest purse in the league ever at Rs 48 crore. Almost off the bat, all-rounder Sandeep Narwal was picked up by Puneri Paltan for Rs 66 lakh, breaking the all-time record for the highest bid set by Bengaluru Bulls last year when the team bid for Mohit Chhillar for Rs 53 lakh. This record was, however, to be short-lived as the Pink Panthers wasted no time in bidding for Manjeet Chhillar in the ensuing rounds.

This year, Pro Kabaddi added four teams – UP, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Haryana — making it the largest league from India. This also means that this year’s auction will see more players go under the hammer. The total number of players up for grabs are 400, including 60 overseas players from Poland, Republic of Korea, England, Sri Lanka, Iran, Thailand, Japan, Pakistan, Mauritius, Malaysia, Bangladesh, China, Taipei, Kenya, Indonesia, Nepal and Oman.