The PVL Season 4 auction in Calicut saw high-voltage bidding as top franchises made aggressive moves to strengthen their squads. Jerome Vinith C emerged as one of the most expensive picks in the Platinum category, signing with the Chennai Blitz for Rs 22.5 lakh.
The hometown franchise, Calicut Heroes, delighted local fans by securing Shameemudheen for Rs 22.5 lakh. Kochi Blue Spikers matched that amount to land Vinit Kumar, marking two of the biggest buys of the auction.
Hyderabad Black Hawks made a splash by signing Shikhar Singh for Rs 16 lakh from the Platinum category. They also added Aman Kumar for Rs 11.5 lakh and Deepu Venugopal for Rs 5.75 lakh. Delhi Toofans’ costliest Platinum-category buy was Aayush at Rs 9 lakh. In the Gold category, they roped in George Antony for Rs 5 lakh and Mannat Choudhary for Rs 6.5 lakh.
Ahmedabad Defenders retained Shon T John using the Right to Match card for Rs 11.5 lakh and added Angamuthu (Rs 11 lakh) and Akhin GS (Rs 10.5 lakh) to their squad. Kolkata Thunder Bolts picked up Pankaj Sharma for Rs 6 lakh and Srajan Shetty for Rs 5 lakh in the Gold category.
Bengaluru Torpedoes joined the action late but made impactful moves, signing Jishnu PV for Rs 14 lakh and Joel Benjamin J for Rs 6.5 lakh. They also brought in Ibin Jose and Rohit Kumar for Rs 5 lakh each.
The Chennai Blitz, after an intense bidding war with Bengaluru and Kolkata, secured Vinith for Rs 22.5 lakh. They also added M Ashwin Raj and Sameer Chaudhary (RTM) for Rs 8 lakh each. Calicut Heroes further bolstered their squad with seasoned setter Mohan Ukkrapandian (RTM) and Santhosh S, both picked for Rs 8 lakh.
Joining Vinit Kumar at Kochi Blue Spikers are Amal K Thomas (Rs 6.5 lakh) and Jasjodh Singh, who was a standout Gold-category buy at Rs 14.75 lakh. Mumbai Meteors secured Karthik A and Lad Om Vasant for Rs 8 lakh each in the Platinum category. In Gold, they used the RTM card for Vipul Kumar (Rs 6.25 lakh) and picked Sonu and Nikhil for Rs 5 lakh each. Debutants Goa Guardians joined the fray by picking Prince and Ramanathan for Rs 8 lakh each (Platinum category), and Amit Chhoker for Rs 5 lakh.