Pro Kabaddi League Season 9: Squads, Retained Players, Top Buys

The auction for the ninth season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 9) took place in Mumbai on August 5-6

Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 is set to get underway in late October bringing more new stars and fresh faces: Twitter/Pro Kabaddi
By Mario Fernandes | Aug 25, 2022 | 8 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The auction for the ninth season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 9) took place in Mumbai on August 5-6. Pawan Kumar Sehrawat became the League’s most-expensive player of all-time after the Tamil Thalaivas acquired him on for a stunning 2.26 crore. Four players earned price tags of over 1 Crore rupees.

Other stars like Pardeep Narwal returned to the UP Yoddhas for INR 90 lakh after the Final Bid Match (FBM) card was triggered by the franchise. Iranian veteran Fazel Atrachali also became the most expensive defender and overseas player in Pro Kabaddi, at INR 1.38 crore. The action of Season 9 is all set to begin from October 22, 2022 across multiple venues across India.

Bengal Warriors

Elite Retained Players: Maninder Singh (Raider), Manoj Gowda K (All-Rounder), Akash Pikalmunde (Raider)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Suyog Baban Gaikar (Raider), R Guhan (Raider), Parshant Kumar (Raider), Vaibhav Bhausaheb Garje (Defender)

Overseas Players: Aslam Saja Mohamed Thambi (Raider, 10L), Soleiman Pahlevani (Defender, 10L)

Category A domestic Player: Deepak Niwas Hooda (All-Rounder, 43L),

Category B Domestic Players: Ajinkya Rohidas Kapre (All-Rounder, 26L), Girish Maruti Ernak (Defender, 20L), Rohit (All-Rounder, 20L), Shrikant Jadhav (Raider, 26L),

Category C Domestic Players: Shubham Shinde (Defender, 20.3L), Balaji D (All-Rounder, 20.6L), Amit Sheoran (Defender, 10L), Ashish Kumar Sangwan (All-Rounder, 10L) Parveen Satpal (Defender, 10L), Surender Nada (Defender, 10L), Vinod Kumar (All-Rounder, 10L)

Category D Domestic Player: Sakthivel R (Defender, 12.2L)

Bengaluru Bulls

Elite Retained Players: Mahender Singh (defender), Mayur Jagannath Kadam (defender), More G B (raider)

Retained Young Player: Saurabh Nandal (defender)

Existing New Young Players: Bharat (Raider), Rohit Kumar (Defender), Vinod Lachmayya Naik (Defender)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Aman (Defender), Rajnesh (Defender), Yash Hooda (Defender)

Overseas Players: Lal Mohar Yadav (Raider, 10L), Nageshor Tharu (Raider, 10L)

Category A domestic Players: Vikash Khandola (Raider, 1.7 crore)

Category B Domestic Players: None

Category C Domestic Players: Neeraj Narwal (Raider, 43L), Harmanjit Singh (Raider, 10L), Rahul Khatik (All-Rounder, 10L), Sachin Narwal (All-Rounder, 10L), Sudhakar Krishant Kadam (Defender, 10L)

Dabang Delhi KC

Elite Retained Player: Vijay (All-rounder)

Retained Young Player: Naveen Kumar (Raider)

Existing New Young Players: Dipak (Defender), Krishan (Defender), Vinay Kumar (Defender), Ashu Malik (Raider)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Ashish Narwal (Raider), Manjeet (Raider), Suraj Panwar (Raider), Vijay (Defender)

Overseas Players: Md. Liton Ali (Defender, 10L), Reza Katoulinezhad (All-Rounder, 10L)

Category A Domestic Players: Sandeep Kumar Dhull (Defender, 40L)

Category B Domestic Players: Vishal (Defender, 20L)

Category C Domestic Players: Ravi Kumar (Defender, 64.1L), Amit Hooda (Defender, 10L), Akash (Defender, 10L), Anil Kumar (Defender, 10L),

Category D Domestic Players: Monu (Defender, 10L), Tejas Maruti Patil (All-Rounder, 6L)

Gujarat Giants

Elite Retained Player: Sonu (Raider)

Existing New Young Players: Rakesh (Raider), Gaurav Chhikara (Raider), Sohit (Raider), Sonu Singh (Raider)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Parteek Dhaiya (Raider), Rohan Singh (All-rounder)

Overseas Players: Dong Geon Lee (Raider, 20L), Young Chang Ko (Defender, 10L)

Category A Domestic Player: None

Category B Domestic Players: Chandran Ranjit (Raider, 30L), Pardeep Kumar (Raider, 25L)

Category C Domestic Players: Rinku Narwal (Defender, 40L), Sandeep Kandola (Defender, 20L), Arkam Shaikh (Defender, 32.1L), Shankar Bhimraj Gadai (All-Rounder, 30.3L), Baldev Singh (Defender, 21.5L), Kapil (Defender, 10L), Mahendra Ganesh Rajput (Raider, 10L), Manuj (Defender, 10L), Purna Singh (Raider, 10L), Sawin (Raider, 10L), Sourav Gulia (Defender, 10L), Ujjval Singh (Defender, 10L), Vinod Kumar (Defender, 10L)

Haryana Steelers

Elite Retained Player: Vinay (Raider)

Existing New Young Players: Meetu (Raider), Jaideep (Defender), Ankit (Defender), Mohit (Defender)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Monu (Defender), Naveen (Defender), Harsh (Defender), Sunny (Defender)

Overseas Players: Amirhossein Bastami (Defender, 65.1L), Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou Mahalli (Raider, 10.5L)

Category A Domestic Player: Manjeet (Raider, 80L)

Category B Domestic Players: Nitin Rawal (All-Rounder, 37.5L), Joginder Singh Narwal (Defender, 20L), Rakesh Narwal (Raider, 20L)

Category C Domestic Players: K Prapanjan (Raider, 10L), Manish Gulia (Raider, 10L), Sushil (Raider, 10L)

Category D Domestic Players: Lovepreet Singh (Raider, 6L)

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Elite Retained Players: Arjun Deshwal (Raider), Sahul Kumar (Defender)

Retained Young Players: None

Existing New Young Players: Deepak (Defender)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Devank (Raider), Ankush (Defender), Ashish (Defender), Abhishek KS (Defender)

Overseas Players: Reza Mirbagheri (Defender, 26.8L), Woosan Ko (Defender, 10L)

Category A Domestic Players: Ajith V Kumar (Raider, 66L)

Category B Domestic Players: Sunil Kumar (Defender, 90L)

Category C Domestic Players: Rahul Chaudhari (Raider, 10L), Bhavani Rajput (Raider, 10.4L), Lucky Sharma (Defender, 10L), Navneet (Raider, 10L), Nitin Panwar (Raider, 10L), Rahul Gorakh Dhanawade (All-Rounder, 10L)

Category D Domestic Players: Nitin Chandel (Defender, 19.7L)

Patna Pirates

Elite Retained Players: Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh (All-rounder), Sajin Chandrasekar (All-rounder), Monu (Raider), Neeraj Kumar (Defender)

Existing New Young Players: Rohit (Raider), Manish (Defender)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Ranjit Venkatramana Naik (Raider), Anuj Kumar (Raider), Naveen Sharma (Defender), Thiyagarajan Yuvaraj (Defender)

Overseas Players: Daniel Omondi Odhiambo (All-Rounder, 10L)

Category A Domestic Players: Sachin Tawar (Raider, 81L), Rohit Gulia (All-Rounder, 30L)

Category B Domestic Player: Sunil (Defender, 21.5L)

Category C Domestic Players: Shivam Chaudhari (Defender, 15.2L), Abdul Insamam S (All-Rounder, 10L) Anand Surendra Tomar (Raider, 10L), Sushil Gulia (Raider, 10L), Vishwas S (Raider, 10L)

Category D Domestic Players: Sagar Kumar (All-Rounder, 6L)

Puneri Paltan

Elite Retained Players: Sombir (Defender), Abinesh Nadarajan (Defender)

Existing New Young Players: Aslam Inamdar (Raider), Mohit Goyat (Raider), Akash Santosh Shinde (Raider), Shubham Nitin Shelke (Raider), Govind Gurjar (All-rounder), Pankaj Mohite (Raider), Sanket Sawant (Defender)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Aditya Tushar Shinde (Raider), Badal Taqdir Singh (Defender)

Overseas Players: Fazel Atrachali (Defender, 1.38 crore), Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh (All-Rounder, 87L)

Category A Domestic Players: None

Category B Domestic Players: None

Category C Domestic Players: Alankar Kaluram Patil (Defender, 10L), Balasaheb Shahaji Jadhav (Defender, 10L), Rakesh Bhalle Ram (Defender, 10L)

Category D Domestic Players: D Mahindraprasad (Defender, 10L), Harsh Mahesh Lad (Defender, 6L)

Tamil Thalaivas

Elite Retained Player: Ajinkya Ashok Pawar (Raider)

Retained Young Players: Sagar (Defender), Himanshu (Defender), M. Abishek (Defender)

Existing New Young Players: Himanshu (Raider), Sahil (Defender), Ashish (Defender), Mohit (Defender)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Himanshu (Raider), Narender (Raider), Jatin (Raider)

Overseas Players: Md. Arif Rabbani (Defender, 10L), Thanushan Laxmamohan (All-Rounder, 10L)

Category A Domestic Players: Pawan Kumar Sehrawat (Raider, 2.26 crore)

Category B Domestic Players: None

Category C Domestic Players: Visvanath V (All-Rounder, 12.8L), Ankit (Defender, 10L)

Category D Domestic Players: Arpit Saroha (Defender, 8.2L), K Abhimanyu (All-Rounder, 6L),

Telugu Titans

Retained Young Players: Ankit Beniwal (Raider), Rajnish (Raider)

Existing New Young Players: Muhammed Shihas S (Defender), Palla Ramakrishna (Defender), Prince (Defender)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Vinay (Raider), Mohit Pahal (Defender), Mohit (Defender), Nitin (Defender)

Overseas Players: Mohsen Maghsoudlou Jafari (All-Rounder, 20L), Hamid Mirzaei Nader (All-Rounder, 10.1L)

Category A Domestic Players: Parvesh Bhainswal (Defender, 62L), Abhishek Singh (Raider, 60L), Surjeet Singh (Defender, 50L)

Category B Domestic Players: Siddharth Desai (Raider, 20L), Vishal Bhardwaj (Defender, 30L), Monu Goyat (Raider, 20L)

Category C Domestic Players: Ravinder Pahal (Defender, 23L), Adarsh T (Defender, 10L), Aman Kadian (Raider, 10L), K. Hanumanthu (All-Rounder, 10L), Ravinder (All-Rounder, 10L), Vijay Kumar (Defender, 10L)

Category D Domestic Players: None

U Mumba

Elite Retained PlayerRinku (Defender)

Existing New Young Players: Kamlesh (Raider), Shivam (Raider), Prince (Defender), Rahul (Defender)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Sachin (Raider), Pranay Vinay Rane (Raider), Rupesh (Raider), Shivansh Thakur (Defender)

Overseas Players: Heidarali Ekrami (Raider, 14L), Gholamabbas Korouki (All-Rounder, 10L)

Category B Domestic Players: Guman Singh (Raider, 1.25 crore), Ashish (Raider, 45L), Surinder Singh (Defender, 35.5L)

Category C Domestic Players: Kiran Laxman Magar (Defender, 31L), Harendra Kumar (Defender, 20L), Ankush (Raider, 10L), Jai Bhagwan (Raider, 10L), Mohit (Defender, 10L), Satywan (Defender, 10L)

UP Yoddha

Elite Retained Player: Nitesh Kumar (defender)

Retained Young Players: Surender Gill (Raider), Sumit (Defender), Ashu Singh (Defender)

Existing New Young Players: Nitin Panwar (All-rounder), Shubham Kumar (Defender), Aman (Raider), Rohit Tomar (Raider)

Franchisee Nominated New Young Players: Durgesh Kumar (Raider), Mahipal (Raider), Anil Kumar (Raider)

New Young Player: None

Overseas Players: Abozar Mighani (Defender, 20L), James Namaba Kamweti (Raider, 10L)

Category A domestic Player: Pardeep Narwal (Raider, 90L)

Category B domestic Player: Nitin Tomar (Raider, 20L)

Category C Domestic Players: Babu Murugasan (Defender, 10L), Gulveer Singh (Raider 10L), Gurdeep (All-Rounder, 10L), Jaideep (Defender, 10L), Nehal B Sawal Desai (All-Rounder, 10L), Rathan K (Raider, 10L)

Pro Kabaddi League Season 9: Top Buys

Pawan Sehrawat – INR 2.26 crore

Pawan Sehrawat’s INR 2.26 crore bid by Tamil Thalaivas made him the all-time most expensive player in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) history. Haryana Steelers and U Mumba were also involved in the bidding, but it was the Thalaivas who went big on one of the best raiders in the league’s history.

Sehrawat boasts some of the best stats in the league with a career record of 986 raid points, 49 Super 10s and 29 Super Raids in 104 matches.

Vikash Kandola – INR 1.70 crore

Bengaluru Bulls signed Vikash Kandola for INR 1.7 Cr, after a lengthy stint with the Steelers in the league. He will aim to be the catalyst for the team averaging over 7 raid points per game. He brings in a wealth of experience to the team from Karnataka.

Fazel Atracheli – INR 1.38 crore

Fazel will start PKL season 9 as the most expensive defender and the costliest overseas talent in Pro Kabaddi history. The veteran has been there from the start, but has gone on to become one of the most prized defenders in the league.

Atracheli will move to neighbours Puneri Paltan, leaving the captaincy of U Mumba after a signifcant spell. Puneri Paltan faced strong competition from Dabang Delhi K.C. and Telugu Titians before the Paltan secured the star.

Guman Singh – INR 1.21 crore

Guman Singh was a surprise addition despite featuring heavily on the top of the raiders’ leaderboards. The Indian The youngster was hot property in the auction starting from a base price of ₹20 Lakhs, but it was U Mumba who secured the potential star.

Pardeep Narwal – INR 90 lakh

Narwal re-signed by UP Yoddhas after they used their Final Bid Match (FBM) card to sign him for INR 90 lakh. He is the only man to score over 1000 raid points and will hope for an improved showing this time around, after a disappointing season last year.