The Premier Badminton League auction took place today with 133 players from the Badminton world going under the hammer for the the third edition of this star studded league.
With 8 franchises this time round, the PBL auction was always going to be a very exciting one, as the old franchises had the option of retaining their players, whereas the new franchises had to make their teams from scratch.
From an Indian stand point, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth were the top picks, and all three of them were retained by their previous franchises.
Players who were retained received a 25% hike in their salary, and players who were retained through the ‘Right to Match’ option were given a 10% hike in their salary.
PV Sindhu was retained by defending champions, Chennai Smashers, for a sum of Rs 48.75 lakhs whereas Saina Nehwal was retained by the Awadhe Warriors for Rs 41.25 lakhs.
Kidambi Srikanth was also ‘retained’ by this old team, the Awadhe Warriors, after they used the ‘Right to match’ card to secure the services of Srikanth for Rs 56.1 lakhs.
Franchises could retain only one player and could use the ‘Right to Match’ card only once during the entire auction process.
Every franchise had to buy a total of 11 players, with a maximum of just 5 foreign players and a minimum of 3 women players. A minimum of Rs 2.12 crore had to be spent.
Carolina Marin was also retained by the Hyderabad Hunters(for a base price of Rs 50 lakhs).
Auction prices and Teams of some of the top players:
Tai Tzu Ying- Ahmedabad Smash Masters(Rs 52 lakhs)
Viktor Axelsen- Bengaluru Blasters(Rs 50 lakhs)
Son Wan Ho- Delhi Acers(Rs 50 lakhs)
Sung Ji Hyun- Delhi Acers(Rs 50 lakhs)
Tzu Wei Wang- North Eastern Warriors(Rs 52 lakhs)
Christinna Pedersen- Awadhe Warriors(Rs 42 lakhs)
The PBL begins on the 22nd of December and will conclude on the 14th of January
