Carolina Marin and PV Sindhu were expectedly the most sought-after icon players as the two 2018 world championship finalists were picked by Pune 7 Aces and defending champions Hyderabad Hunters respectively in the players’ auction for the fourth edition of the Premier Badminton League on Monday.

The fourth season of PBL will kick off in Mumbai on December 22, 2018.

With no retention or Right to Match (RTM) card at disposal, the players’ auction was always going to be a keen contest for teams to get the combination right while looking for that one icon player who can inspire them to glory.

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The nine franchises had a total purse of Rs 2.6 crore and the icon players could be bought for no higher than Rs 80 lakh. If two or more teams bid Rs 80 lakh for a player, there was a draw of lots. The teams also had to choose four Indians and at least three women in their 10-member squad.

Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto became the highest paid non-icon player with the Delhi Dashers splurging Rs 70 lakh for his services. The Delhi outfit won a tense battle with two other teams to acquire the world No 11, paying more than double his base price.

Among the Indians, rising doubles star Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was the top draw and Ahmedabad Smash Masters outbid the Hyderabad Hunters to secure the youngster for Rs 52 lakh, a massive jump from his base price of Rs 15 lakh.

Here are all the nine PBL squads in full:

Ahmedabad Smash Masters

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
Viktor Axelsen Singles 80
Anoushka Parikh Doubles 3
Sikki Reddy Doubles 29
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Doubles 52
Lee Chun Hei Reginald Doubles 18
K Nandagopal Doubles 1
Kirsty Gilmour Singles 26
Vaishnavi Bhale Singles 1
Daren Liew Singles 33
Sourabh Verma Singles 16
Money spent: Rs 2.59 crore

Awadhe Warriors

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
Son Wan Ho Singles 70
Ashwini Ponnappa Doubles 32
Mathias Christiansen Doubles 37
Lee Yang Doubles 31
Beiwen Zhang Singles 39
Lee Dong Keun Singles 36
Sanyogita Ghorpade Doubles 1
Gurusaidutt Singles 7
Rasika Raje Singles 2
MR Arjun Doubles 5
Money spent: Rs 2.6 crore

Bengaluru Raptors

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
K Srikanth Singles 80
Mohd Ahsan Doubles 42
Hendra Setiawan Doubles 42
Sai Praneeth Singles 32
Mithun Manjunath Singles 2
Lauren Smith Doubles 20
Sanjana Santosh Doubles 2
Marcus Ellis Doubles 20
Vu Thi Trang Singles 9
Nygun Tien Minh Singles 6
Money spent: Rs 2.55 crore

Chennai Smashers

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
Sung Ji Hyun Singles 80
Gabby Adcock Doubles 36
Rutaparna Panda Doubles 2
Chris Adcock Doubles 54
Sumeeth Reddy Doubles 10
Saili Rane Singles 1
Rajiv Ouseph Singles 24
P Kashyap Singles 5
Or Chin Chung Doubles 15
Chong Wei Feng Singles 14
Money spent: Rs 2.41 crore

Delhi Dashers

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
HS Prannoy Singles 80
Chai Biao Doubles 42
Wang Sijie Doubles 15
Maneepong Jongjit Doubles 23
Evgeniya Kosetskaya Singles 5
Tommy Sugiarto Singles 70
Harika V Doubles 1
Vighnesh Devlekar Doubles 1
Chirag Sen Singles 1
Lee Chia Hsin Singles + Doubles 20
Money spent: Rs 2.58 crore

Hyderabad Hunters

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
PV Sindhu Singles 80
Eom Hye Won Doubles 37
Kim Sa Rang Doubles 45
Bodin Isara Doubles 21
Sai Uttejitha Rao Singles 1
Lee Hyun Il Singles 60
Arun George Doubles 1
Meghna J Doubles 3
Mark Caljouw Singles 7
Rahul Yadav C Singles 3
Money spent: Rs 2.58 crore

Mumbai Rockets

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
Lee Yong Dae Doubles 80
Pia Zebadiah Bernadet Doubles 15
Kim Gi Jung Doubles 45
Shriyanshi Pardeshi Singles 1
Sameer Verma Singles 42
Kuhoo Garg Doubles 2
Manu Attri Doubles 18
Anders Antonsen Singles 55
Pratul Joshi Singles 1
Anura Prabhudesai Singles 1
Money spent: Rs 2.6 crore

North Eastern Warriors

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
Saina Nehwal Singles 80
Kim Ha Na Doubles 40
Yoo Yeon Seong Doubles 49
S Tanongsak Singles 20
Tian Houwei Singles 32
K Maneesha Doubles 1
Liao Min Chun Doubles 20
Dhruv Kapila Doubles 1
Siril Verma Singles 3
Rituparna Das Singles 6
Money spent: Rs 2.52 crore

Pune 7 Aces

Player Category Price (Rs lakh)
Carolina Marin Singles 80
Chirag Shetty Doubles 14
Mathias Boe Doubles 50
Vladimir Ivanov Doubles 17
Line Kjaersfeldt Singles 31
Lakshya Sen Singles 11
Brice Leverdez Singles 20
Sony Dwi Kuncoro Singles 10
Ajay Jayaram Singles 10
Prajakta Sawant Doubles 3
Money spent: Rs 2.46 crore