The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 10 player auction has been deferred by a month, and has now been scheduled for October 9 and 10 in Mumbai, the organisers announced on Friday. Earlier, the auction was slated for September 8-9 but was postponed in view of the ongoing preparations of the Indian Kabaddi team for the Asian Games that start later this month.

The Statesman understands the organisers’ decision to delay the auction as the Asian Games will present a wider pool of players, especially from countries like Iran that produces the most sought-after players after India.

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The domestic and overseas players will be divided into four categories in the PKL season 10 auction. The categories are A, B, C and D and the players will be further subdivided as all-rounders, defenders, and raiders. The base price for category A is Rs. 30 lakh, category B is Rs. 20 lakh, category C is Rs. 13 lakh, and category D is Rs. 9 lakh.

The season 10 player pool will consist of more than 500 players including the 24 players from the two finalist teams of the Khelo India University Games 2023. The salary purse available to each franchise is Rs. 5 crore.

The PKL teams have already begun building their squads for season 10 under the league player policy for the Season. In August 2023, the PKL teams exercised their option of retaining players from their respective season nine squads.

The franchises had the choice of retaining players across three categories – Elite Retained Players (ERP), Retained Young Players (RYP) and Existing New Young Players (ENYP). A total of 84 players were retained with 22 from the ERP category, 24 in the RYP category and 38 in the ENYP category. The non-retained players, which include star players such as Pawan Sehrawat, Vikash Kandola and Fazel Atrachali, will go under the hammer in this auction.

“We are delighted to announce that the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 Player Auction will now be held immediately after the Asian Games. We are certain that there will be very strong fan excitement and interest in a blockbuster Player Auction, where several star performers from the Asian Games will attract competitive bidding from the PKL teams,” said PKL league commissioner, Anupam Goswami.