Mohit Chillar was just 21 when he made his debut in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), being signed for a mere Rs5.75 lakh in 2014. Two years on, Chillar has not just broken the record for the highest buy, he has increased it almost ten-fold by raking in a whopping Rs53 lakh from Bengaluru Bulls in the PKL auctions here on Friday.
By doing so, Chillar, who works as a clerk with the North Western Railway, broke the previous top buy record of Rs12.8 lakh set by Rakesh Kumar in the inaugural season of the league.
Making the move from U Mumba, the right corner defender hadn't yet gotten over that amount of money he had just pocketed.
"I got the news via Twitter. It still hasn't sunk in yet. I haven't even told my parents till now. To be very honest, I wasn't expecting anything more than 40 lakh. Crossing the 50 lakh mark was beyond my wildest of expectations," said Chillar, who hails from Nizampur, a village about 30 kms from New Delhi.
Seeing one's earnings increase overnight by such a substantial margin would change things for anybody. And Chillar is no different.
"I come from a simple middle-class family. I still remember that during my early days, I used to get just Rs 1,200 as a scholarship for winning a tournament. Yes, this money would mean so much to me and my family but I haven't yet thought of what I am going to do with so much money," Chillar added.
The 22-year-old might have become a millionaire, but the change in fortunes does not mean that he will leave his job with the Railways.
"I will take leave without pay from my employers when I take part in the league during those two months. They will provide an NOC (no objection certificate) and we will get leave without pay," Chillar, who will turn 23 on July 13, said.
Going into the auction, the eight teams had been allowed to retain two players each. The fourth season is scheduled to be held from June 25 to July 31, with the tournament flagging off from Pune and the two semifinals and final to be played in Hyderabad.
N ZONE
Rs12.8 lakh
This was the previous record for the highest buy in Pro Kabaddi League, set by Rakesh Kumar in the inaugural season
TOP BUYS IN PKL-4 AUCTION
Name Team Old Team Amount
1 Mohit Chillar Bengaluru Bulls U Mumba 53 lakhs
2 Sandeep Narwal Telugu Titans Patna Pirates 45.5 lakhs
3 Jeeva Kumar U Mumba UMumba 40 lakhs
4 Jasmer Singh Gulia Telugu Titans Puneri Paltan 35.5 lakhs
5 Kuldeep Singh Patna Pirates Jaipur Pink Panthers 30.4 lakhs
6 Surender Nada Bengaluru Bulls U Mumba 30 lakhs
7 Dharmaraj Cheralathan Patna Pirates Telugu Titans 29 lakhs
8 Rakesh Kumar U Mumba U Mumba 26 lakhs
9 Bajirao Hodage Patna Pirates Bengal Warriors 20 lakhs
10 Ajay Thakur Puneri Paltan Puneri Paltan 19 lakhs
Note: Amount in Rs
RETAINED PLAYERS
U Mumba: Rishank Devadiga, Anup Kumar
Dabang Delhi: Kashling Adake, Selvamani K
Telugu Titans: Rahul Chaudhari, Sukesh Hegde
Puneri Paltan: Manjeet Chhillar, Deepak Hooda
Bengal Warriors: Girish Ernak, Nilesh Shinde
Jaipur Pink Panthers: Rajesh Narwal, Jasvir Singh
Patna Pirates: Rajesh Mondal, Pardeep Narwal
Bengaluru Bulls: Ashish Kumar, Pawan Kumar
