Young striker Akashdeep Singh was the top Indian pick but national team captain Sardar Singh turned out to be damp squib in the Hockey India League auction, which was dominated by Germany’s Moritz Fuerste who drew the highest ever bid in the history of the tournament.
Fuerste, who was a member of the German Team that won the gold medal at 2008 Summer Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics and 2006 World Cup, was picked by Kalinga Lancers for a whopping USD 105,000 (Rs 69,46, 289) here.
Akashdeep was purchased by Uttar Pradesh Wizards for a whopping USD 84,000 (Rs 55,56, 247), while veteran dragflicker Sandeep Singh and late surprise Gurmail Singh turned out to be second highest money maker for India. Both Sandeep and Gurmail were purchased for identical USD 81,000 (Rs 53,57,578) by Ranchi Rays and Dabang Mumbai respectively.
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In fact, Gurmail’s price was a complete surprise as the defender attracted such a huge sum as against his base price of USD 12,000.
Sardar, surprisingly, cut a sorry figure in the auctions as he was bagged for just USD 58,000 against his base price of USD 20,000 by Jaypee Punjab Warriors.
Sardar’s price of USD 58,000 (Rs 38,36,290) turned out to be much less than the amount he garnered in the inaugural edition. He was sold for USD 78,000 to Delhi Waveriders in 2012 before the franchise released him this year.
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With the new goal—scoring rule in place in next year’s HIL, where one field goal will count as two, strikers were high in demand but it was never expected that Sardar will drew such a less price. In fact, young and less experienced Indian players like Nikkin Thimmaiah, Gurvinder Singh, Dharamvir Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh drew much higher bids than the ace midfielder.
Besides Fuerste, the other Germans to have drawn the attention of the teams are striker Florian Fuchs, who was picked up by Dabang Mumbai for USD 96,000 (Rs 63,53,336) against his base price of USD 20,000 and midfielder Tobias Hauke who was purchased by Uttar Pradesh Wizards for USD 96,000 (Rs 63,53,336) against his base price of USD 25,000.
After Akashdeep and Sandeep, striker Gurwinder Singh Chandi was the third best Indian, attracting a handsome pay packet of USD 75,000 (Rs 49,63,809) from Jaypee Punjab Warriors against his base price of USD 20,000. Young Indian strikers Mandeep Singh and Nikkin Thimmiah too pocketed huge amount as Delhi Waveriders and Dabang Mumbai shelled out USD 70,000 (Rs 46,30,416) and USD 67,000 (Rs 44,31,496) respectively to have the players in their ranks.
Indian dragflicker Rupinder and striker Dharamvir bagged USD 68,000 (Rs 44,98,943) and USD 60,000 (Rs 39,69,656) respectively from Delhi Waveriders and Kalinga Lancers against their base prices of USD 20,000 each.
After a rather slow start to the auction that saw only two players from lot one being picked in Vikramjeet Singh (USD 4,500; Rachi Rays) and Australian Kieron Govers (USD 36,000; Dabang Mumbai), Sardar’s name — the first on lot two — created a buzz among the franchises with Uttar Pradesh and Punjab going head to head for the 29-year-old star midfielder.
The first highlight of the second lot was the 23-year-old FIH Young Player of the Year Fuchs, regarded as one of the sport’s most lethal strikers in world hockey. Fuchs was on the radar of every franchise and he quickly went past Sardar’s price with UP Wizards, Mumbai and Kalinga Lancers bidding vigorously for the German.
But once Kalinga Lancers opted out it was left to Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai to fight it out, and in the end Mumbai picked him up for a hefty price of USD 96,000.
But it is Fuchs’ Germany team-mate Fuerste, an Olympic gold medallist, who bagged the highest price as he was bought for a hefty amount of USD 105,000 against his base price of USD 30,000. Initially it was three—way fight between Wizards, the Waveriders and Dabang Mumbai vying for his services, but in the end the Lancers pulled off a late heist with their record bid.
During the 2012 auctions, Fuerste was acquired by Ranchi Rhinos for USD 75,000 and went on to captain the team.
Another German Hauke was also high in demand as Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Delhi Waveriders and Mumbai bid vigorously for him but in the end the Wizards availed his services by shelling out USD 96,000 against his base price of USD 25,000.
Australian midfielder Matthew Swann also demanded a good price as he was sold to to Dabang Mumbai for USD 75,000 against his base price of USD 20,000.
Among the goalkeepers, Dutchman Nicolas Jacobi and Devon Manchester of New Zealand picked up the highest price of USD 27,000 each against their base prices of USD 20,000 and USD 15,000 respectively. While Jacobi was picked up by Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Manchester went to the Waveriders.
The Waveriders also picked up Harjot Singh as the second goalkeeper for his base price of USD 20,000.
In the 10th and last lot before the lunch break, Mandeep demanded USD 70,000 from the Waveriders in a two—way race with Ranch Rays. His base price was USD 20,000.
Asked Kalinga Lancers mentor Dilip Tirkey about their decision to shell out such a record price for Fuerste, he said it was a planned move.
“In the last two HIL, our performances were not good so we came to the auction with a plan this year. We want to make our team stronger. We want to make our team around Fuerste. He is a proven customer for Germany and we thought about it earlier that we will go for him,” he said.
Asked why they didn’t bid for Sardar, Tirkey said: “Sardar is the best player of the Indian team but we couldn’t fit him in our team.”
Dabang Mumbai mentor Viren Rasquinha said it was logical that most of the teams went for German and Australian players because they are world-class.
In the second half of the auction, Indian midfielder Chinglensana Singh (USD 62,000; Uttar Pradesh Wizards), S K Uthappa (USD 54,000; Kalinga Lancers), striker Affan Yousuf (USD 53,000 by Dabang Mumbai), defenders Vikram Kanth (USD 52,000; Delhi Waveriders), Gurinder Singh (USD 48,000; Uttar Pradesh Wizards) and experienced midfielder Danish Mujtaba (USD 54,000; Mumbai) also attracted good prices.
Among foreign players to feature in the second half of the auction, Australian legend Jamie Dwyer was picked up by Uttar Pradesh Wizards for USD 57,000 while his teammates Matt Gohdes and Simon Orchard went to Punjab Warriors for USD 71,000 and USD 58,000 respectively.
South Africa captain Austin Smith was sold to Delhi Waveriders for USD 59,000, while little-known striker Benjamin Stanzl was picked up by Delhi for USD 35,000.
All the franchises were required to select their 20-member squad (12 Indian and eight foreigners) out of a total purse of USD 725,000 for the next two years of HIL.
The players who remained unsold will go into the reserve pool from where the franchises can handpick their choice to complete their squad.
Top 10 Indian Buys: Akashdeep Singh (USD 84,000; Uttar Pradesh Wizards), Sandeep Singh (USD 81,000; Ranchi Rays), Gurmail Singh (USD 81,000; Dabang Mumbai), Gurwinder Singh Chandi (USD 75,000; Jaypee Punjab Warriors); Mandeep Singh (USD 70,000; Delhi Waveriders), Rupinder Pal Singh (USD 68,000; Delhi Waveriders), Nikkin Thimmiah (USD 67,000; Dabang Mumbai), Chinglensana Singh (USD 62,000; Uttar Pradesh Wizards),Dharamvir Singh (USD 60,000; Kalinga Lancers), Sardar Singh (USD 58,000; Jaypee Punjab Warriors), S K Uthappa (USD 54,000; Kalinga Lancers), Danish Mujtaba (USD 54,000; Dabang Mumbai).
Top Foreign Buys: Moritz Fuerste (USD 105,000; Kalinga Lancers), Florian Fuchs (USD 96,000; Dabang Mumbai), Tobias Hauke (USD 96,000; Uttar Pradesh Wizards), Matthew Swann (USD 75,000 Dabang Mumbai), Matt Gohdes (USD 71,000; Jaypee Punjab Warriors), Austin Smith (USD 59,000; Delhi Waveriders), Simon Orchard (USD 58,000; Jaypee Punjab Warriors), Jamie Dwyer (USD 57,000; Uttar Pradesh Wizards), Benjamin Stanzl (USD 35,000; Delhi Waveriders), Tyler Lovell (USD 30,000; Ranchi Rays), Nicolas Jacobi (USD 27,000, Jaypee Punjab Warriors).