The 22-year-old raider was bought for a whopping Rs. 93 lakh by Team Uttar Pradesh during the Day 1 auction of Pro Kabaddi League Season 5. While, majority expected Manjeet Chillar to be the highest paid player, after he was brought for Rs. 75.5 lakh by the Jaipur Pink Panthers, Tomar emerged as a surprise for everyone.

A member of the World Cup winning Indian side last year, Tomar triggered a furious bidding war between UP and Telugu Titans before the former bought him. With some of the biggest names through the previous four seasons, both Indian and foreign, being either retained or picked as priority players by the four new franchises, it was a matter of using the remaining amount of four crores in the most effective way. That was one of the reasons all-rounders were in high demand.

Tomar’s price was also way more than last year’s highest paid player, Mohit Chillar, who had gone for Rs. 53 lakh to the Bengaluru Bulls. Here is a look at some of the other players who were brought in the auction.

Rohit Kumar (Bengaluru Bulls) – Rs. 81 lakh, Manjeet Chillar (Jaipur Pink Panthers) – Rs. 75.50 lakh, K. Selvamani (Jaipur Pink Panthers) – Rs. 73 lakh, Surjeet Singh (Bengal Warriors) – Rs. 73 lakh, Rajesh Narwal (UP) – Rs. 69 lakh, Sandeep Narwal (Puneri Paltan) – Rs. 66 lakh, Amit Hooda (Tamil Nadu) – Rs. 63 lakh, Jeeva Kumar (UP) – Rs. 52 lakh, Jasvir Singh (Jaipur Pink Panthers)  – Rs. 51 lakh, Ravinder Pahal (Bengaluru Bulls) – Rs. 50 lakh, Ajay (Bengaluru Bulls) – Rs. 48.50 lakh, Kashiling Adake (U Mumba) – Rs. 48 lakh, Ran Singh (Bengal Warriors) – Rs. 47.50 lakh, Mohit Chillar (Haryana) – Rs. 46.50 lakh.

Season 5 of Pro Kabaddi is going to start from June 25 to July 31. Kabaddi fans can catch all the live action at the Star Sports Network.