India captain Sardar Singh's recent poor form aided mostly by being over used for the national team trickled down to his Hockey India league auction pricing too. The defensive-midfielder who commanded $78,000 in the first auction saw his final going price drop to $58,000.
The captain was taken by Jaypee Punjab Warriors from his base price of $20,000. The Punjab team also have amongst their midst another experienced player in Mark Knowles who was retained by the outfit.
The biggest money churner, however, turned out to be forward Akashdeep Singh who was taken by UP Wizards for $84,00 — four times his base price of $20,000.
Two other big money signings were Sandeep Singh ($81,000)and Gurmail Singh ($81,000).
From foreign players, it was German dominance in the top 3 as Mortiz Fuerste ($105,000), Florian Fuchs ($96,000) and Tobias Hauke ($96,000) were the top picks. The top 10 list of most expensive foreign players was dominated by German and Australian players as top Dutch players had decided to stay out to focus on upcoming tournaments.
Fuerste's taking price is the highest price in the Hockey India league after Teun de Nooijer took home $87,400 in the first auction.
Surprising many, Rupinder Pal Singh and Dharamvir Singh were taken for bigger amount than Sardar. Drag-flicker Rupinder was taken by Delhi Waveriders and Dharamvir by Kalinga lancers against their base price of $20,000.
The auction started off slowly with only two players going from lot one, but with Sardar being the first name on lot 2, his name was expected to create a lot of flutter but only UP Wizards and Punjab Warriors were the real contenders for a player who was much sought after only three years earlier.
Fuchs, 23, Germany's prolific goalscorer went for nearly five times his base price at $96,000 to create the first real mark on the auction.
The FIH Young Player of the Year was battled for between UP Wizards, Mumbai and Kalinga lancers. But in the end it was Mumbai who came out on top.
But it was his teammate Fuerste whose name was also in lot 2 that shattered records. The Olympic medallist went for $105,000 against his base price of $30,000 after a strong tussle between Delhi, UP and Mumbai but coming out from the sides, lancers ended up splashing the big bucks. Incidentally, Fuerste also drew big money at the first auction when he took home $75,000 courtesy Ranchi Rhinos.
Speaking about their decision to splash the cash for Fuerste, Kalinga lancers mentor Dileep Tirkey said: "In the last two HIl, our performances were not good so 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."
With most teams going for German and Australian players, Dabang Mumbai mentor Viren Rasquinha said it was a natural move. "Germany have won the Olympic gold in the last two editions and Australia won the World Cup so it is natural for teams to be interested in their players," he said to justify their choices.
At the close of the auction, it was also revealed that the first match of the fourth edition would be played in Bhubaneswar at the Kalinga Stadium with the final being staged in Ranchi.