Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Sept 17: Young striker Akashdeep Singh was the top Indian pick but the HIL auctions turned out to be a damp squib for national team captain Sardar Singh here Thursday. Among the foreigners, Germany’s Moritz Fuerste broke through the $1,00,000 barrier. He was picked up for a whopping USD 1,05,000 (Rs 69,46, 289).
Among the Orissa players, Amit Rohidas and Dipsan Tirkey (both $31,000) commanded the best prices. Stanley Victor Minz ($8,500) and Anand Lakra ($8,000) also fetched reasonable amounts.
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.
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. In the inaugural auction of the HIL, the Indian captain garnered a price of $ 78,000 when he was bought by Delhi Waveriders.
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 were striker Florian Fuchs, who was picked up by Dabang Mumbai for $ 96,000 (Rs 63,53,336) against his base price of $20,000 and midfielder Tobias Hauke who was purchased by UP Wizards for $96,000 (Rs 63,53,336) against his base price of USD 25,000.
Fuerste, an Olympic gold medallist, who bagged the highest price as he was bought for a hefty amount 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.
Dilip Tirkey, mentor for the Kalinga Lancers stated they had always wanted Fuerste and 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 wanted to make our team stronger. We want to build 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, the former Indian captain, said: “Sardar is the best player of the Indian team but we couldn’t fit him in our team.”
Best Indian prices: Akashdeep Singh ($84,000; UP Wizards), Sandeep Singh ($81,000; Ranchi Rays), Gurmail Singh ($81,000; Dabang Mumbai), Gurwinder Singh Chandi ($75,000; Jaypee Punjab Warriors); Mandeep Singh ($70,000; Delhi Waveriders), Rupinder Pal Singh ($68,000)
Best foreign prices: Moritz Fuerste ($105,000; Kalinga), Florian Fuchs ($96,000; Dabang Mumbai), Tobias Hauke ($96,000; Uttar Pradesh Wizards).