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The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has grown exponentially since its inception, becoming one of India’s most beloved sporting events. As the league prepares for its 11th season, the excitement around the player auction, scheduled for August 15 and 16 in Mumbai, is palpable.
The auction is a critical event where the 12 PKL teams will build their squads for the upcoming season. With a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 25 players allowed per team, every decision made during the auction can significantly impact the team's fortunes.
One of the most intriguing elements of the Pro Kabaddi auction is the Final Bid Match (FBM) card, a tool that gives teams a second chance to reclaim their released players.
Introduced in Season 6 of the Pro Kabaddi League, the FBM card is a strategic option that allows teams to match the final bid for a player they had previously released. This mechanism adds a layer of strategy to the auction, enabling teams to bring back key players who have attracted high bids from rival franchises.
With big names like Pawan Sehrawat, Pardeep Narwal, Maninder Singh, and Sunil Kumar up for grabs in the 2024 auction, the FBM card could prove to be a game-changer for several teams.
Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction: How does the FBM card work?
The process of using the FBM card is straightforward yet requires careful planning. During the auction, if a team bids successfully on a player who was previously released by another franchise, the auctioneer will offer the original team the opportunity to use their FBM card.
At this point, the original team must decide whether to match the highest bid or let the player go. If the team chooses to match the bid, they reacquire the player at the final bid price set by the highest bidder. However, if they decline to use the FBM card, the player will join the new team that placed the highest bid.
The strategic importance of the FBM card cannot be overstated. It gives teams the flexibility to reclaim valuable players who might have been released for various reasons, such as salary cap considerations or squad restructuring. By using the FBM card, teams can ensure they retain key players without engaging in an all-out bidding war, provided they are willing to meet the market value established during the auction.
While the FBM card offers significant advantages, it comes with certain limitations. Each team is allowed to use the FBM card up to three times during the auction, but the exact number of uses depends on how many elite players the team has retained.
If a team has retained the maximum quota of six elite players, they can only use the FBM card once. Conversely, if a team has retained four or fewer players, they are eligible to use all three of their FBM cards. This limitation forces teams to think carefully about when and how to deploy their FBM cards, making every decision during the auction crucial.
Ahead of the 2024 Pro Kabaddi League auction, all 12 teams are in a position where each has retained fewer than five elite players. This scenario means that every team is eligible to use all three of their FBM cards, setting the stage for a potentially unpredictable and thrilling Pro Kabaddi 2024 auction.
Teams like the Bengal Warriorz, Bengaluru Bulls, and Jaipur Pink Panthers, who have been conservative in their retentions, could use the FBM option to bring back key players while simultaneously building a robust squad around them.
