Panaji (Goa), Aug 17 (IANS) Shameemudheen emerged as the biggest buy at the Prime Volleyball League (PVL) Season 5 player auction on Monday, with Kochi Blue Spikers securing the blocker for Rs 20 lakh.
Muhammad Nihal C. K. was the second-highest buy at Rs 19 lakh, while Shon T. John and Jasjodh Singh were joint third-highest buys at Rs 15.5 lakh each as the league’s 10 franchises strengthened their squads ahead of the new season.
The standout story of the auction was the 11 players from the recently concluded Guardians Trophy who earned bids from PVL franchises. Among them, Suraj Chaudhary emerged as the highest-valued player, with the young blocker being picked up by Calicut Heroes for Rs 9.5 lakh.
Their performances and subsequent selections are a reflection of the abundance of emerging Indian talent and the growing grassroots ecosystem around the sport, with the PVL’s sustained efforts over the last four years helping create a pathway for young players.
The 10 franchises were also divided into two pools for Season 5. Pool A comprises Bengaluru Torpedoes, Calicut Heroes, Ahmedabad Defenders, Chennai Blitz and Mumbai Meteors, while Pool B features Goa Guardians, Telugu Blackhawks, Delhi Toofans, Kolkata Thunderbolts and Kochi Blue Spikers.
Ahmedabad Defenders made five acquisitions, led by Muhammad Nihal C K (Rs 19 lakh), while Muhammed Iqbal (Rs 4 lakh), Shiva Chandel, Dhruv Chaudhari and Ayush Chaudhary (Rs 3 lakh each) joined the squad.
Defending champions Bengaluru Torpedoes made no purchases, retaining their entire championship-winning squad.
Calicut Heroes added eight players, with Sameer Chaudhary (Rs 10 lakh) their highest buy, followed by Suraj Chaudhary (Rs 9.5 lakh), Jaskaran Singh (Rs 9 lakh), Sarthak Singh Jadon (Rs 7.75 lakh), Anu James (Rs 5.5 lakh), Mahendra Dhurwe and Sujith (Rs 3 lakh each). They also used their Right to Match to retain Sivanessan V for Rs 5.75 lakh.
Chennai Blitz secured seven players, headlined by Shon T John (Rs 15.5 lakh), along with Kunal Das (Rs 6.25 lakh), Mohammed Zamrud (Rs 4 lakh), Soham More, Srinath S, S. Vignesh and Surendran S (Rs 3 lakh each).
Delhi Toofans added Amrinderpal Singh (Rs 10 lakh), Vikas Maan (Rs 8 lakh), Ashok Vicky Gujjar and Lal Sujan M V (Rs 3 lakh each).
Goa Guardians made two acquisitions, adding Aman Kumar (Rs 5 lakh) and Rajat Kumar (Rs 3 lakh).
Kochi Blue Spikers, meanwhile, made six buys, led by Shameemudheen (Rs 20 lakh), followed by Angamuthu Ramaswamy (Rs 9.5 lakh) and Aadith KV, Naveed Khan, Vishesh and Arshak Sinan (Rs 3 lakh each).
Kolkata Thunderbolts secured six players, with Jasjodh Singh (Rs 15.5 lakh) their biggest acquisition, alongside Ashok Bishnoi and Aditya Rana (Rs 5 lakh each), Janshad U and Venu C (Rs 4 lakh each) and Pawan Singh (Rs 3 lakh).
Mumbai Meteors added Prince (Rs 5.5 lakh) and Mritunjoy Mahanta (Rs 5 lakh).
Telugu Blackhawks strengthened their squad with Tanish Choudhary (Rs 14 lakh), Vinit Kumar (Rs 8 lakh), Mouhsin PA (Rs 5 lakh), Hari Prasad B S and Deepak (Rs 3 lakh each), while exercising their Right to Match to retain Niyas Abdul Salam for Rs 4 lakh.
With the auction complete and squads finalised, the stage is set for another season of competitive volleyball and continued growth of the Indian volleyball ecosystem.
Complete squads:
Ahmedabad Defenders: Muhammad Nihal C K (Rs 19 lakh), Muhammed Iqbal (Rs 4 lakh), Shiva Chandel (Rs 3 lakh), Dhruv Chaudhari (Rs 3 lakh), Ayush Chaudhary (Rs 3 lakh), Jehan Malek (Rs 1 lakh), Kiranraj TR (Rs 1 lakh), Muthusamy Appavu, Akhin GS, Nandhagopal S, Prabagaran P and Harsh Chaudhari.
Bengaluru Torpedoes: Sethu TR, Jishnu PV, Mujeeb MC, Midhunkumar B, Joel Benjamin J, Ibin Jose, Rohit Kumar, Himanshu Tyagi, Nitin Minhas, Sandeep Goswami, Muhammad Fawaz. M (Rs 1 lakh), Naji Ahamed (Rs 1 lakh).
Calicut Heroes: Sameer Chaudhary (Rs 10 lakh), Suraj Chaudhary (Rs 9.5 lakh), Jaskaran Singh (Rs 9 lakh), Sarthak Singh Jadon (Rs 7.75 lakh), Sivanesan V (Rs 5.75 lakh), Anu James (Rs 5.5 lakh), Mahendra Dhurwe (Rs 3 lakh), Sujith (Rs 3 lakh), Ankur (Rs 1 lakh), Guru C (Rs 1 lakh), Santosh S and Mukesh Kumar.
Chennai Blitz: Shon T John (Rs 15.5 lakh), Kunal Das (Rs 6.25 lakh), Mohammed Zamrud (Rs 4 lakh), Soham More (Rs 3 lakh), Srinath S (Rs 3 lakh), S. Vignesh (Rs 3 lakh), Surendran.S (Rs 3 lakh), Srikanth T (Rs 1 lakh), GR Vaishnav (Rs 1 lakh), Jerome Vinith C, Nanjil Surya and Tharun Gowda K.
Delhi Toofans: Amrinderpal Singh (Rs 10 lakh), Vikas Maan (Rs 8 lakh), Ashok Vicky Gujjar (Rs 3 lakh), Lal Sujan M V (Rs 3 lakh), Deepak Kumar M (Rs 1 lakh), Aljo Sabu (Rs 1 lakh), Saqlain Tariq, Anand K, Muhammed Jasim, Mannat Choudhary, George Antony and Abhishek Rajeev.
Goa Guardians: Aman Kumar (Rs 5 lakh), Rajat Kumar (Rs 3 lakh), Shakti Singh (Rs 1 lakh), Sonu (Rs 1 lakh), Chirag Yadav, LM Manoj, Aravindhan D, Prince, Ramanathan R, Vikram, Rohit Yadav and Jerry Daniel.
Kochi Blue Spikers: Shameemudheen (Rs 20 lakh), Angamuthu Ramaswamy (Rs 9.5 lakh), Aadith KV (Rs 3 lakh), Naveed Khan (Rs 3 lakh), Vishesh (Rs 3 lakh), Arshak Sinan (Rs 3 lakh), Arshad KS (Rs 1 lakh), Bibin Binoy (Rs 1 lakh), Erin Varghese, Amal K Thomas, Hemanth P and Alan Ashique VL.
Kolkata Thunderbolts: Jasjodh Singh (Rs 15.5 lakh), Ashok Bishnoi (Rs 5 lakh), Aditya Rana (Rs 5 lakh), Janshad U (Rs 4 lakh), Venu C (Rs 4 lakh), Pawan Singh (Rs 3 lakh), Sharan KP (Rs 1 lakh), Akshay KR (Rs 1 lakh), Ashwal Rai, Rahul K, Pankaj Sharma and Jithin N.
Mumbai Meteors: Prince (Rs 5.5 lakh), Mritunjoy Mahanta (Rs 5 lakh), Aayush (Rs 1 lakh), Naveen Kumar J (Rs 1 lakh), Amit Gulia, Shubham Chaudhary, Karthik A, Lad Om Vasant, Vipul Kumar, Nikhil, Yogesh Kumar and Abhinav Salar.
Telugu Black Hawks: Tanish Choudhary (Rs 14 lakh), Vinit Kumar (Rs 8 lakh), Mouhsin PA (Rs 5 lakh), Niyas Abdul Salam (Rs 4 lakh), Hari Prasad B S (Rs 3 lakh), Deepak (Rs 3 lakh), Mettu Velangin Siril Reddy (Rs 1 lakh), Namith MN (Rs 1 lakh), Shikhar Singh, John Joseph, Deepu Venugopal and Preet Karan.
–IANS
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