Harmanpreet is costliest buy on day one of HIL auctions

Harmanpreet Singh
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

Harmanpreet Singh was expected to be the big draw at the Hockey India League auctions and the Indian captain did not disappoint, becoming the costliest buy at ₹ 78 lakh on day one of the bidding on Sunday.

The ace drag-flicker was bought by Soorma Hockey Club, the team owned by JSW Sports and led the list of Indian national team players going for much higher than expected and several times over their base price of ₹ 10 lakh.

Abhishek Nain was the second-most expensive buy at ₹ 72 lakh, taken by Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, while India vice-captain Hardik Singh was snapped up by UP Rudras for ₹ 70 lakh. Jugraj Singh (Bengal) and Amit Rohidas (Tamil Nadu Dragons) at ₹ 48 lakh each completed the top-Indian buys with most of the national team members going for decent amounts. Gurjant Singh and Mandeep Singh, however, would feel unlucky, being the first names up for sale and getting only ₹ 19 and ₹ 25 lakh respectively as the teams started tentatively before getting a hang of things.

Among the overseas players, Gonzalo Peillat unsurprisingly was the top pick, triggering a furious bidding war with every franchise aiming for him before going for a massive ₹ 68 lakh to Hyderabad Toofans. The Argentine-turned-German became the 4th most-expensive player so far, pipping Dutch drag-flicker Jip Janssen as the top foreign player, the latter going for ₹ 54 lakh to Tamil Nadu Dragons.

Youngsters Araijit Singh Hundal and Rohit too had productive outings, picked for ₹ 42 lakh (Gonasika) and ₹ 40 lakh (SG Pipers) respectively. Australian forward Jeremy Hayward (JSW, ₹42 lakh) and Dutchman Lars Balk (UP, ₹ 40 lakh) were the other prominent foreign buys even as veteran goalkeeper Andrew Charter went unsold.

The auction also saw some confusion when Dutch goalkeeper Maurits Visser came up for bidding before the franchises being informed that he had withdrawn his name, forcing last-minute adjustments. What was unanimous was the feeling that the ₹ 4 cr purse was too little.

“It was not possible to change things at the last minute and we also did not want to burden the teams in the very first year. The auction is for three years but we will talk to the franchises and take everything into consideration after the 1st year and look at the possibility of increasing the purse next year,” Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey admitted.