It didn't long for eyeballs to widen and brows to raise at the Hockey India League (HIL) Auction on Thursday. Sardar Singh was an early bird coming in lot No. 2, and even the serving boy at the breakfast table was interested. That's the charisma around India captain, unmatched currently and only equal to Dhanraj Pillay in the recent past.
Pillay, in a chequered blazer, was leading the Uttar Pradesh Wizard's think-tank, alongside India coach Roelant Oltmans. Behind him, dressed with equal smartness, was Jagbir Singh in the Punjab Warriors corner. And somewhere in the mix was the Kalinga Lancers' camp chaired by Dilip Tirkey.
The other three - Ranchi Rays, Delhi Waveriders and Dabang Mumbai - were still stretching their arms and legs warming-up for the long day ahead. Either they were not interested or were waiting to enter the bidding battle late - if it stays within the range they had set for Sardar.
But, everybody had their eyes on auctioneer Bob Hayton's hammer.
Sardar had played it smart with his base price, keeping it at $20,000. A relatively low amount for a big player gets the bidders going. And it happened.
"He was in JPW's (Jaypee Punjab Warriors) list right from the time HIL started, where we lost him to Delhi Waveriders in the closed bid before the inaugural season," Jagbir told IBNLive after the auction.
That left little surprise why Punjab went all out for Sardar. They wanted to make amends for their last mistake. And they did, and surprisingly at a relatively cheap price.
It was perhaps the hell-bent nature of Punjab's bidding that ousted the Lancers and the Wizards out of the race once it crossed $50,000 mark. But if that's the limit they had set for a player considered hot property, it certainly hints that Sardar's charisma is on the wane.
But it allowed Punjab to seal the deal at $58,000, a good $20K lower than his last selling price shelled out by Delhi in 2012.
"When you plan, you always have a target amount," Jagbir answered to the question if JPW had a price tag in mind for Sardar. "I can't discuss this [amount] to discourage a player. For JPW, Sardar has always been a priority player.
"He is the best in the business at the moment; that's why he is the captain of the [Indian] team. People who have not got Sardar may come up with excuses he was not part of their priority list, but in their heart they know they couldn't get him," Jagbir hinted at the deal becoming a case of sour grapes for JPW's competitors in the HIL.
Lately, though, Sardar has been shifted by Oltmans from centre to the right for the national team, a move that suggests the coach wants a fitter, quicker player to control the midfield, and Sardar isn't getting any younger. That's why Manpreet Singh has been put in as centre-half.
However, Jagbir doesn't believe that's the case.
"It is a strategic move because of the confidence of the chief coach, because he believes Sardar can deliver at any position. Otherwise, he would have tried another youngster, but he has confidence in Sardar's versatility," the former India forward backed Oltmans' thought process.
Sardar, 29, will soon be on the other side of 30s, which is when the fitness demands of hockey get a touch tough to match. But Jagbir feels it differs from player to player.
"There have been numerous examples [of ageless players]. It depends on the fitness levels of the individual, how he can perform and improve, like Jamie Dwyer. He is an exception in the world, so was Teun de Nooijer. You can't compare their age factors with others because they are above the fitness level of other players," he explained.
But what a $58,000 price tag did to Sardar was push him out of the top 10 Indian buys and No. 18 in the overall top 20. And that will surely force the India captain to introspect and analyse what next.
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