The previous edition of the Pro Kabaddi League once again proved that defense is always a key to triumph at the most prestigious stage of Kabaddi. The defensive units of Dabang Delhi and Patna Pirates had a lion’s share in their successful run in the previous season.
In the auction event of PKL 9, we witnessed a lot of elite defenders getting high bids and also new defensive names getting ready for their breakout at the world’s grandest kabaddi league. Hence let’s have a look at the five defenders who received the highest bids in the auction round of Pro Kabaddi Season 9.
#5 Parvesh Bhainswal (Telugu Titans) – 62 Lac
Parvesh has earned himself the tag of the deadliest left-cover defender around the globe. His tall height gives him an advantage in performing hold or dash tackles against elite raiders without a second thought. His consistency and fearlessness make him a top-tier defender as he was also placed in the Category A players of this PKL 9 auction.
The 25-year-old sturdy defender made his PKL debut with Jaipur Pink Panthers in Season 4 but had his breakthrough campaign in the following season with debutant Gujarat Giants. He formed a destructive cover pair with his cousin Sunil Kumar for the Ahmedabad-based franchise and played two finals in his first two seasons at the club.
The Haryana-based defender also played a crucial role in the fourth consecutive Senior National triumph of the Railways Sports Promotion Board. Bhainswal was chosen by the Railways veteran and current assistant coach of Telugu Titans to don the left cover role who also used to play in the same position.
He will be accompanied by another Category A cover defender Surjeet Singh who will be also seen in the Yellow and Blacks for the first time. Expectations from him are considerably high as the last time a cover defender from Telugu Titans camp broke into the Top 10 highest tackle points scorers was Deepak Niwas Hooda back in 2015.
#4 Ravi Kumar (Dabang Delhi) – 64.1 Lac
The final bid of Ravi Kumar Choudhary was 64.1 Lac which was also the highest-ever in his PKL career. It was quite surprising that he made it to the list of 5 most expensive defenders, especially after a disastrous individual outcome in the previous season. However, the recent Senior Nationals campaign with Railways helped the right-cover defender to receive serious interest from franchises who were ready to place high bids to secure his acquisition.
Ravi lost his first-choice status in the Starting Seven after the arrival of Mohit Nandal and had switched his position in order to stay in the lineup. However, it could not fare well for the Haryana-based defender as he bagged only 25 tackle points from 22 appearances. It was his worst-ever individual performance since 2016 when he only played five games for Bengal Warriors in Season 4.
The Railways stalwart will now be sweating out for the capital-based franchise in their title-defense campaign. The defending champions have chosen the 29-year-old as the successor of Jeeva Kumar who has bowed out of the coaching assignment with UP Yoddha. A new defensive lineup featuring Ravi, Vishal Lather, Sandeep Dhull, and Amit Hooda is charged up to defend the Pro Kabaddi crown of Dabang Delhi.
#3 Amirhossein Bastami (Haryana Steelers) – 65.1 Lac
The flag-bearer of the Iranian clan
The Iranian rising star is the only feature in this list who came on the auction battle from Category C. Most Kabaddi fans were not even aware of his presence in the auction; however, the PKL scouts were already aware of his talent. Hence the Iranian right-corner received plenty of interest from multiple PKL franchises and got sold to Haryana Steelers on 65.1 Lac price.
Bastami rose to fame in the Iranian kabaddi circuit after winning the gold medal with the Persian Gulf Transportation side in the National Beach Games. He then went on to play a crucial role in Iran’s historic triumph at the inaugural edition of the World Junior Kabaddi Championship in 2019. He hails from Gorgan city of Iran which is regarded as a fortress of Kabaddi and represents Golestan Province along with other PKL stars like Fazel Atrachali, Abozar Mighani, Abolfazl Maghsoudlou, Mohsen Maghsoudlou, Mohammad Maghsoudlou etc.
Haryana gaffer Manpreet Singh has chosen two energetic all-rounders for both sides of corners in the form of Nitin Rawal and Amirhossein Bastami. His Junior national teammate Mohammadreza Shadloui owned the previous edition of PKL and earned the Green Armband for scoring the most tackle points hence expectations from him are quite high. The right corner position was a huge headache for the Steelers last season as Shrikant Tewatia and Ravi Kumar failed to perform but it seems like the issue will be resolved soon.
#2 Sunil Kumar (Jaipur Pink Panthers) – 90 Lac
Just like every other star PKL defender duo, Sunil Kumar and his cousin Parvesh Bhainswal also suffered an unfortunate fate of splitting. For the first time since Season 4, we won’t get to see two Brothers of Destruction lining up for the same PKL outfit. The inaugural champions Jaipur Pink Panthers’ highest bid of 90 Lac made him the most expensive Category B defender of this PKL auction.
Sunil was the most trusted knight of coach Manpreet Singh at the Ahmedabad-based franchise and also captained them in the past two editions. However, the Giants couldn’t excel in his leadership as they did in their first two seasons and failed to qualify for the playoff round in the following couple of seasons. Hence when the coaching staff of Gujarat was revamped, the Railways right-cover was also relieved from his services.
The Jaipur gaffer Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan who is also on the coaching staff of Railways wanted to see Sunil in the Pink jersey anyhow. He is the most experienced defender of the Pink Panthers roster this season and is likely to be their next general. The 25-year-old will be accompanied by the retained NK Academy product Deepak Rathee and the Iranian starlet Reza Mirbagheri in the cover defense department.
#1 Fazel Atrachali (Puneri Paltan) – 1.38 Crore
Paltan snatched Fazel away from the arch-rivals
The star Iranian left corner was the first player who went under the hammer in this auction event. Fazel broke his own previous record of the most expensive foreign player and joined the neighbourhood Puneri Paltan side from U Mumba. The Sultan Fazel Atrachali will continue to play for the Maharashtrian franchise in Orange colours but for the Pune-based outfit instead.
Fazel captained the U Mumba side for three editions (Season 6, 7 and 8) in his second stint and was released for the following season as a consequence of the forgettable campaign in the 2021-22 edition. It was the first time in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League that a team led by him couldn’t make it to the playoffs. A major dip in his form forced the Mumba management to release the Asian Games gold medalist captain ahead of Season 9.
After Nitin Tomar’s departure, it is being speculated that the 30-year-old is set to replace him as a captain of the Paltan. Pune just fell short of star-power and clutch in the final phase of the previous season and missed out on glory hence the two Iranians, Fazel Atrachali and Mohammad Nabibakhsh have been added to fill that gap. The ultimate aim of the Paltan management to land the four-time finalist in the city of Pune is to march for their maiden PKL triumph.