Pro Kabaddi player auction rules: All you need to know

The Pro Kabaddi Season 10 player auction will give the 12 franchises a chance to rebuild their squad over the two-day affair.

The teams have retained 84 players in total for Season 10 and will now look to complete their squads in the PKL 10 player auction. But before fans get to see who their teams’ new superstars will be, here is a look at some of the Pro Kabaddi auction rules.

Who will be in the Player Pool?

The Pro Kabaddi 2023 auction pool will see more than 500 players go under the hammer. The pool comprises the released players from franchises along with kabaddi players from the domestic level. This includes squad players from PKL Season 8 and 9 and the top eight ranked teams from the Senior Nationals Kabaddi Championship from the last two seasons. Overseas players will also be in the auction pool. Furthermore, we will also see the inclusion of 24 players from the two finalist teams of Khelo India University Games, 2023 in the auction pool.

What is the maximum squad size of a team?

Each Pro Kabaddi team’s squad can have a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 25. This means a maximum of 300 players across 12 teams can participate in Pro Kabaddi in a given season.

What is each team’s player purse during the Pro Kabaddi auction?

After 3 seasons, the Player Purse has increased from INR 4.4 crore to INR 5 crore to use for buying players. A player’s salary for the season is determined by the maximum bid placed on the player. A team’s purse, however, will be reduced or lowered based on the number of retentions they made ahead of the auction.

What are the player categories and base prices?

The Pro Kabaddi League player auction has two categories of players - domestic and overseas.

Domestic and overseas players are further divided into categories. There are four categories that players can be a part of - A, B, C, D. Players in Category A have the highest base price of INR 30 lakh; B is INR 20 lakh; C is INR 13 lakh, and D is INR 9 lakh. Each player comes with their own skillset - raider, defender or all-rounder.

How many overseas players are allowed in a Pro Kabaddi squad?

Each team must have at least two and a maximum of four overseas players in their squad.

Elite Retained Players: How does it work?

Each team can retain a maximum of six players among which 2 players can be selected from category A and 2 players from category B bracket before the auction. Teams can choose to retain their top performers or Elite Retained Players (ERP) so that they don’t risk losing them to other teams who may bid a higher price for them in the auction.

Existing New Young Players and Retained Young Players: Who are they?

Teams can also retain Existing New Young Players (NYP) and Retained Young Players (RYP) category players that played for them in the previous season before the auction. These NYP and RYP players are not a part of the maximum six players that can be retained under the Elite Retained Players (ERP) who are seasoned PKL campaigners.

What is the Final Bid Match?

The Final Bid Match (FBM) rule allows teams to match the final bid on a player who was a part of their squad in the previous season.

The FBM card can be used based on the number of players the team retains. If a team chooses to retain their maximum allotted 6 ERPs then they can exercise the FBM option once. If they retain five players then they can use this option twice and if the number is lower than five they can use it thrice.