A minimum of all eight franchises spent a lot of money to buy Indian Men's Hockey core team players in the Hockey India League Player Auction 2024/25 that began in New Delhi on Sunday (October 13).
Gurjant Singh was the first buy at Rs 19 lakh, but star drag-flicker and Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh cost Rs 78 lakh and emerged as the costliest buy of the day in the first half of Saturday's auction. Both were bought by Soorma Hockey Club, owned by JSW Sports.
Abhishek became the costliest buy, as he went to Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers for Rs 72 lakh, Hardik Singh going to UP Rudras for Rs 70 lakh.
Other big buys from the first lot were Amit Rohidas, Tamil Nadu Dragons bought him for Rs 48 lakhs and Jugraj Singh, who was sold to Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers for Rs 48 lakhs, while Sumit was sold to Hyderabad Toofans for Rs 46 lakhs.
Other overseas goalkeepers who have been roped in include Ireland's David Harte, who has gone to Tamil Nadu Dragons for Rs 32 lakh.
Germany's Jean-Paul Danneberg, the Netherlands' Pirmin Blaak and Belgium's Vincent Vanasch fetched Hamburg Toofans, Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, and Soorma Hockey Club respectively for 27 lakh, 25 lakh, and 23 lakh. Suraj Karkera, India, signed up with Team Gonasika for 22 lakh. Delhi SG Pipers signed Pawan for 15 lakh.
The best picks of the day came from the Netherlands in the form of Lars Balk and Duco Telgenkamp who were signed by UP Rudras and Tamil Nadu Dragons, respectively. Balk was signed by UP Rudras for 40 lakh, while Telgenkamp fetched 36 lakh for Tamil Nadu Dragons.
16 crores 88 lakhs 50 thousand was the amount spent on the opening day of the Hockey India League Players Auction as 54 players, which included 18 overseas players, were sold.
Here is a look at the list of players sold on Day 1 of the HIL Auction followed by the remaining purse of all teams:
| Sr No. | Player | Team | Price (INR Lakh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harmanpreet Singh | Soorma Hockey Club | 78.00 |
| 2 | Abhishek | Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers | 72.00 |
| 3 | Hardik Singh | UP Rudras | 70.00 |
| 4 | Gonzalo Peillat (GER) | Hyderabad Toofans | 68.00 |
| 5 | Jip Janssen (NED) | Tamil Nadu Dragons | 54.00 |
| 6 | Amit Rohidas | Tamil Nadu Dragons | 48.00 |
| 7 | Jugraj Singh | Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers | 48.00 |
| 8 | Sumit | Hyderabad Toofans | 46.00 |
| 9 | Manpreet Singh | Team Gonasika | 42.00 |
| 10 | Sukhjeet Singh | Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers | 42.00 |
| 11 | Shamsher Singh | Delhi SG Pipers | 42.00 |
| 12 | Araijeet Singh Hundal | Team Gonasika | 42.00 |
| 13 | Jeremy Hayward (AUS) | Soorma Hockey Club | 42.00 |
| 14 | Vivek Sagar Prasad | Soorma Hockey Club | 40.00 |
| 15 | Rajkumar Pal | Delhi SG Pipers | 40.00 |
| 16 | Lars Balk (NED) | UP Rudras | 40.00 |
| 17 | Rohit | Delhi SG Pipers | 40.00 |
| 18 | Sanjay | Kalinga Lancers | 38.00 |
| 19 | Jarmanpreet Singh | Delhi SG Pipers | 38.00 |
| 20 | Duco Telgenkamp (NED) | Tamil Nadu Dragons | 36.00 |
| 21 | Nilakanta Sharma | Hyderabad Toofans | 34.00 |
| 22 | Dilpreet Singh | Kalinga Lancers | 34.00 |
| 23 | Amir Ali | Team Gonasika | 34.00 |
| 24 | Varun Kumar | Delhi SG Pipers | 34.00 |
| 25 | Krishan B Pathak | Kalinga Lancers | 32.00 |
| 26 | David Harte (IRL) | Tamil Nadu Dragons | 32.00 |
| 27 | Kane Russell (NZL) | UP Rudras | 30.00 |
| 28 | Lalit Kumar Upadhyay | UP Rudras | 28.00 |
| 29 | Jean-Paul Danneberg (GER) | Hyderabad Toofans | 27.00 |
| 30 | Mandeep Singh | Team Gonasika | 25.00 |
| 31 | Pirmin Blaak (NED) | Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers | 25.00 |
| 32 | Florent van Aubel (BEL) | Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers | 25.00 |
| 33 | Dayaan Cassiem (RSA) | Soorma Hockey Club | 25.00 |
| 34 | Selvam Karthi | Tamil Nadu Dragons | 24.00 |
| 35 | Vincent Vanasch (BEL) | Soorma Hockey Club | 23.00 |
| 36 | Suraj Karkera | Team Gonasika | 22.00 |
| 37 | Jeroen Hertzberger (NED) | Team Gonasika | 21.00 |
| 38 | Shilanand Lakra | Hyderabad Toofans | 21.00 |
| 39 | Boby Singh Dhami | Kalinga Lancers | 20.00 |
| 40 | Gurjant Singh | Soorma Hockey Club | 19.00 |
| 41 | Mandeep Mor | Kalinga Lancers | 19.00 |
| 42 | Gauthier Boccard (BEL) | Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers | 18.00 |
| 43 | Nilam Sanjeep Xess | Team Gonasika | 17.00 |
| 44 | Oliver Payne (GBR) | Team Gonasika | 15.00 |
| 45 | Pawan | Delhi SG Pipers | 15.00 |
| 46 | Surender Kumar | UP Rudras | 14.00 |
| 47 | Hayden Beltz (AUS) | Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers | 13.00 |
| 48 | Álvaro Iglesias (ESP) | UP Rudras | 12.50 |
| 49 | Rupinder Pal Singh | Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers | 12.50 |
| 50 | Gurinder Singh | Soorma Hockey Club | 11.00 |
| 51 | Yogember Rawat | Team Gonasika | 11.00 |
| 52 | Tomas Santiago (ARG) | Delhi SG Pipers | 10.00 |
| 53 | Kothajit Singh | Tamil Nadu Dragons | 10.00 |
| 54 | Birendra Lakra | Team Gonasika | 10.00 |
Purse remaining for franchises after day 1 of Hockey India League auction
Hyderabad Toofans - Rs 204.00 lakh
Soorma Hockey Club - Rs 162.00 lakh
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers - Rs 144.50 lakh
Delhi SG Pipers - Rs 181.00 lakh
Tamil Nadu Dragons - Rs 196.00 lakh
UP Rudras - Rs 206.00 lakh
Kalinga Lancers - Rs 257.00 lakh
Team Gonasika - Rs 161.00 lakh -
All data from the players sold to the remaining purse details courtesy of Hockey India League
