Pro Kabaddi League – Everything you need to know!
For decades Cricket stole the hearts of viewers, but now the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is on revolution. It is one of the leagues in India that has shown exponential growth. It is the most popular non-cricket property in India. So, how did it all start? How has the Pro Kabaddi league has uplifted in India?
The Pro Kabaddi League is now known as Vivo Pro Kabaddi League due to sponsorship reasons. It is a professional-level Kabaddi league in India, launched in 2014 with broadcasting on Star Sports network. It gets played in the Double-robin league and playoffs tournament format.
Initially, there were doubts in the atmosphere as to if it would be a success or not? Will this league be able to make profits or not? But in a few days, this league was able to attract viewers from rural areas and metropolitan cities both. Four hundred thirty-five million viewers saw the inaugural season of the Pro Kabaddi League.
In comparison, its second season was able to fetch five hundred fifty-two million viewers. As the number of leagues passed, the number of viewers increased exponentially with time. Pro Kabaddi League rules are similar to that of the indoor version of Kabaddi, but there are some additional rules to ensure more scoring in the game.
How many numbers of teams are there in the league?
There are a total of twelve franchises and teams in which the players are from India and in several parts of the world like Sri Lanka, Japan, Iran, Oman, Taiwan, etc.
The different teams of PKL are-
Bengal Warriors – Kolkata
Owner – Future Group
Coach – Raj Narain Sharm
Gujrat Fortune Giants – Gujrat
Owner – Gautam Adani
Captain – Sunil Kumar
Haryana Steelers – Haryana
Owner – Parth Jindal
Captain – Dharmaraj Cheralathan
Tamil Thalaivis – Tamil Nadu
Owner – Nimmagadda Prasad, Sachin Tendulkar, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan, Allu Arvind
Coach – Ajay Thakur and Manjeet Chhillar
UP Yodha – Uttar Pradesh
Owner -Kiran Kumar Grandhi
Coach – Nitesh Kumar
Bengaluru Bulls – Bengaluru
Owner – Kosmik Global Media
Coach – Randhir Singh
Dabang Delhi – Delhi
Owner – Do It Sports Management
Coach – Arjun Singh
Pink Panthers – Jaipur
Owner – Abhishek Bachchan
Coach – Kasinathan Bhaskaran
Puneri Paltan – Pune
Owner – Insurekot Sports
Coach – Ramphal Kaushik
Patna Pirates – Patna
Owner – Rajesh Singh
Coach – RS Khokhar
Telugu Titans – Vizag
Owner – Veera Sports
Coach – J Udayakumar
U Mumba – Mumbai
Owner – Unilazer Sports
Coach – Ravi Shetty
All teams fight spirit entirely and incredibly for winning a cash price of 50 lakh INR. The winning team will get awarded Rs 25 Lakh’s cash price, while 25 lakh is for up runner sides. Other than that, the best raider, catcher, and defender will get 10 thousand in every match.
Want to know about Past Tournament Results?
Patna Pirates have won the pro kabaddi League Thrice while Pink Panthers, U Mumba, Bengaluru Bulls, and Bengal warriors have won the title once.
Season 2014 – Inaugural tournament
Pink Panthers (Winner)
U Mumba (Runner up)
Season 2015
U Mumba (Winner)
Bengaluru Bulls (Runner up)
Season 2016 – January
Patna Pirates (Winner)
U Mumba (Runner up)
Season 2016 – June
Patna Pirates (Winner)
Pink Panthers (Runner up)
Season 2017
Patna Pirates (Winner)
Gujrat Fortune Giants (Runner up)
Season 2018
Bengaluru Bulls (Winner)
Gujrat Fortune Giants (Runner up)
Season 2019
Bengal Warriors (Winner)
Dabang Delhi (Runner up)
It was the necessary information one should be aware of before watching the Pro Kabaddi League.