New Delhi: Sardar Singh, star attraction of the Hockey India League (HIL) players auction, was the first big buy of the day as Punjab Warriors locked a successful bid of $58,000 for the India captain. But it was soon upstaged by German striker Florian Fuchs, for whom Mumbai splashed as many as $96000.
Sardar had a base price of $20,000 but saw a bidding battle between Kalinga Lancers, UP Wizards and Punjab Warriors, which pushed his selling price past USD 50K.
However, it was considerable lower than the $78000 India captain bagged in the inaugural auction in 2012 when he was bought by the Delhi Waveriders. The Delhi franchise, however, chose to not retain Sardar after his three-year contractual period ended after the 2015 season.
The new contract, however, will be for a two-year period.
But battle for Fuchs took the bidding war between Kalinga Lancers, UP and Mumbai to a different battle, with the Dabangs coming out on top with a price that was $38000 more than Sardar's.
However, it was not surprising since strikers and playmakers will be in demand considering the change in scoring system by Hockey India where one field goal will count for two.
The first successful bid of the day, however, was Australian midfielder Kieran Govers who was sold for $36000 to Dabang Mumbai.
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