Bengaluru, August 10: The vivo Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is all set to return after a year's break due to coronavirus pandemic and the new season is scheduled to start later this year, but the Season 8 Player Auction will take place later this month.

PKL, which started out in 2014 with just eight franchises battling it out for the much-coveted trophy, evolved into a much bigger league with the addition of four new teams.

The PKL season 7, the toughest season, saw franchises splash out over 50 crores to acquire 200 players with Siddharth Desai being the most expensive buy after Telugu Titans got the winning bid for the Indian raider at ₹1.45 crore.

Meanwhile, the most expensive foreign player was Iranian Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh who was bought for ₹77.75 lakh by eventual season 7 champions Bengal Warriors.

Now, as the stage is set for PKL to return after nearly two years with Season 8, myKhel takes a look at the auction date, time, rules, base price, salary purse, players retention details:

When and where is PKL Season 8 Players Auction taking place?

The PKL Season 8 Player Auction will take place in Mumbai on August 29th, August 30th and August 31st.

How many players will go under the hammer during PKL Season 8 Auction?

The auction pool has more than 450 players, including the released players along with kabaddi players from the domestic level. This includes squad players from PKL Season 6 and 7, those coming through the New Young Players (NYP) programme and the top eight ranked teams of the senior national kabaddi championships of the last two seasons. Overseas players will also be in the auction pool.

What is the maximum squad size of a team?

Each Pro Kabaddi team's squad has to 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.

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

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

What is the Salary Purse for franchise heading into PKL Season 8 Auction?

The total Salary Purse applicable to each Franchisee for its squad for Season 8 is INR 4.4 Crores. A player's salary for the season is determined by the maximum bid placed on the player. This purse, however, will be smaller with the number of retentions a team makes ahead of the auction.

What is the base price for players at the PKL Season 8 Auction?

The Season 8 Player Auctions will see Domestic, Overseas, and New Young Players (NYPs) divided into four categories: Category A, B, C and D. Within each category, the players will be further sub-divided as 'All-Rounders', 'Defenders' and 'Raiders'.

Base prices for each of the categories are:

Category A - INR 30 Lakhs,

Category B - INR 20 Lakhs

Category C - INR 10 Lakhs

Category D - INR 6 Lakhs.

What are the retention rules and how many players can be retained going into PKL Season 8 Auction?

The PKL teams are also expected to exercise their choice of retention of PKL Season 7 squads as per the league policies before the upcoming auction.

For each PKL Season, teams are allowed to retain up to six players under the Elite Retained Players category and up to six New Young Players (NYPs) under stipulated conditions.

And of the 500+ players from the player pool, players who are not retained by the franchisees will go under the hammer during the auctions.

Elite Retained Players: How does it work?

Each team can retain a maximum of six players who aren't categorised under the NYP bracket before the auction. Teams can choose to retain their top performers so that they won't risk losing them to others who may bid a higher price for them in the auction.

New Young Players: Who are they?

Uncapped players who come through Mashal Sports' Future Kabaddi Heroes scouting programme fall under the New Young Player or NYP category in the auction. This category comprises youngsters who have shown remarkable talent and skill in the sport. Teams can also retain six NYP category players from the previous season before the auction.

What is the Final Bid Match (FBM)?

The Final Bid Match rule allows teams to match the final bid on players from the pool who were a part of their squad in the previous season.

The FBM card can be used only twice by each team. However, this number depends on their number of retentions. If a team chooses to retain their maximum allotted 6 players then they cannot exercise this option. If they retain five they can use this option once and if the number is lower than five they can use it twice.

How to follow or watch the PKL Season 8 Player Auction?

Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar are the official broadcaster and OTT partner of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League. The Category A domestic players auction will be broadcast LIVE on August 30 on the Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.

Fans can also follow live updates of the entire player auction (29th - 31st August) on the LIVE Auction Centre exclusively on www.prokabaddi.com and follow stories on myKhel.com.

When is PKL Season 8 scheduled to start?

Organisers Mashal Sports plans to commence Season 8 of the vivo Pro Kabaddi League in December 2021, in complete compliance with the health and safety regulations set by the Government of India.

Who are the players retained by franchises ahead of the PKL Season 8 Auction:

• Bengal Warriors

Elite Retained Players

Maninder Singh - Raider

Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh - All Rounder

Rinku Narwal - Defender

Retained Young Players

Ravindra Ramesh Kumawat - Raider

• Bengaluru Bulls

Elite Retained Players

Pawan Kumar Sehrawat - Raider

Amit Sheoran - Defender

Existing New Young Players

Saurabh Nandal - Defender

Banty - Raider

Mohit Sehrawat - Defender

• Dabang Delhi

Elite Retained Players

Vijay - All Rounder

Neeraj Narwal - Raider

Retained Young Players

Naveen Kumar - Raider

Existing New Young Players

Balram - All Rounder

Sumit - Defender Mohit - Defender

• Jaipur Pink Panthers

Elite Retained Players

Amit Hooda - Defender

Vishal - Defender

Retained Young Players

Nitin Rawal - All Rounder

Existing New Young Players

Sachin Narwal - All-rounder

Pavan TR - Defender

Sushil Gulia - Raider

Elavarasan A - Defender

• Gujarat Fortunegiants

Elite Retained Players

Parvesh Bhainswal - Defender

Sunil Kumar - Defender

Existing New Young Players

Harmanjeet Singh - Raider

Sumit - Defender

Ankit - Defender

• Tamil Thalaivas

Existing New Young Players

Sagar - Defender

Himanshu - Defender

M Abishek - Defender

• Telugu Titans

Elite Retained Players

Rakesh Gowda - Raider

Retained Young Players

Ankit Beniwal - Raider

Rajnish - Raider

Existing New Young Players

Manish - Defender

Akash Choudhary - Defender

Akash Dattu Arsul - Defender

• U Mumba

Elite Retained Players

Abhishek Singh - Raider

Ajinkya Rohidas Kapre - All Rounder

Harendra Kumar - Defender

Fazel Atrachali - Defender

Existing New Young Players

Navneet - Raider

• Haryana Steelers

Elite Retained Players

Vikash Kandola - Raider

Existing New Young Players

Vinay - Raider

Vikas Chillar - Raider

Chand Singh - Defender

• UP Yoddha

Retained Young Players

Nitesh Kumar - Defender

Existing New Young Players

Sumit - Defender

Ashu Singh - Defender

Surinder Gill - Raider

• Patna Pirates

Elite Retained Players

Neeraj Kumar - Defender

Monu - Raider

Existing New Young Players

Sahil Mann - All Rounder

Rajveersinh Pratap Rao Chavan - Raider

Mohit - Raider

• Puneri Paltan

Elite Retained Players

Balasaheb Shahaji Jadhav - Defender

Pawan Kumar Kadian - Raider

Hadi Tajik - Defender

Existing New Young Players

Sanket Sawant - Defender

Pankaj Mohite - Raider