All about Pro Kabaddi League: Season 8 starting soon
What do you get if you add the glamour and modern-day format of IPL to an age-old native game of India? The answer is Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). When the idea of PKL was conceived there was skepticism. But the big names got involved, the excitement levels started soaring. The inaugural season of PKL had a viewership of 435M that was just 20% short of the viewership of IPL 2014.
This was a spectacular feat given that none of the Kabaddi players was known. Even the most popular PKL players had a fan following that was less than the least popular IPL player. There were a lot of challenges to get the league up and running. Nonetheless, the League hasn’t looked back ever after a triumphant start.
Let’s have a look at its current state and know more about the upcoming Season 8.
What is the Pro Kabaddi League?
The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is a professional Kabaddi league started in India by Mashal Sports. Star Sports acquired a majority stake in Pro Kabaddi League in 2015 and hence it is broadcasted exclusively on Star Sports.
Pro Kabaddi League Teams
PKL started with 4 teams in 2014. Later on from 2017-2019 4 more teams got added making it a total of 8 teams currently. Out of the 7 seasons, Patna Pirates has won 3 of them consecutively. No other team has been able to retain the title for more than 1 season.
| Team | Location | Captain | Head coach | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengal Warriors | Kolkata | Maninder Singh | BC Ramesh | Season 7 |
| Bengaluru Bulls | Bengaluru/Nagpur | Rohit Kumar | Randhir Singh Sehrawat | Season 6 |
| Dabang Delhi KC | Delhi | Joginder Narwal | Krishan Kumar Hooda | |
| Gujarat Fortune Giants | Ahmedabad | Sunil Kumar | Manpreet Singh | |
| Haryana Steelers | Sonipat | Dharmaraj Cheralathan | Rakesh Kumar | |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers | Jaipur | Deepak Niwas Hooda | Srinivas Reddy | Season 1 |
| Patna Pirates | Patna/Ranchi | Pardeep Narwal | Ram Mehar Singh | Seasons 3, 4 and 5 |
| Puneri Paltan | Pune | PO Surjeet Singh | Anup Kumar | |
| Tamil Thalaivas | Chennai | Ajay Thakur/Manjeet Chhillar | J Udaykumar | |
| Telugu Titans | Hyderabad/Vizag | Abozar Mohajermighani | Gholamreza Mazandarai | |
| U Mumba | Mumbai | Fazel Atrachali | Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan | Season 2 |
| UP Yoddha | Lucknow | Nitesh Kumar | Jasveer Singh |
The Glamour in PKL
Pro Kabaddi league followed the footsteps of IPL. The first step to adding glamour to the league was to get heavyweight team owners. And Mashal sports was successful in getting Abhishek Bachchan and Ronnie Screwvala on board as team owners.
After Star Sports took over from Mashal Sports, many other big names joined PKL. A fantastic inaugural season also ensured great sponsorships for all the teams. Have a look at the ownership and sponsors details.
| Team | Owners | Kit sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| Bengal Warriors | Kishore Biyani | Future Pay |
| Bengaluru Bulls | Kosmik Global Media | Ashirvad Pipes |
| Dabang Delhi KC | Radha Kapoor | JK Super Cement |
| Gujarat Fortune Giants | Gautam Adani | Finolex Cables |
| Haryana Steelers | Parth Jindal | APL Apollo |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers | Abhishek Bachchan | Ambuja Cements |
| Patna Pirates | Rajesh V. Shah | Birla Gold Cement |
| Puneri Paltan | Suresh Kotak and Family | Force Motors |
| Tamil Thalaivas | Nimmagadda Prasad, Sachin Tendulkar, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan, Allu Aravind | Celon Labs |
| Telugu Titans | Srinivas Sreeramaneni, Goutham Reddy Nedurmalli, Mahesh Kolli | Greenko |
| U Mumba | Ronnie Screwvala | Indigo Paints |
| UP Yoddha | Kiran Kumar Grandhi | Tata Yodha |
The addition of stalwarts from the industry, sports and showbiz world gave the required attention PKL needed from the viewers. After the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan, Gautam Adani and Kishore Biyani also got associated with PKL there were no questions left about the success of this unique sports league.
How different is PKL from regular Kabaddi?
Apart from the glitz, glamour and massive promotions, there is not much difference in the way regular indoor Kabaddi and PKL kabaddi. PKL follows the same rules as the indoor kabaddi, however, there are some additional rules unique to PKL. These additional rules were added to give teams more opportunities to earn points as well as to make the game more interesting for the viewers.
For example, ‘Do or Die Raid’ and ‘Super Tackle’ rules increased the level of competitiveness in the game. These innovative rules also keep the adrenaline flowing for the audience.
Do or Die Raid: If a team’s raiders return empty (without earning any points) on a raid it is called an empty raid. A ‘Do or Die Raid’ gets triggered for a team after two successive empty raids from the team. In a ‘Do-Or-Die Raid‘, the raider must get a point during this raid, otherwise he will be out even if he is not tackled.
Super Tackle: A super tackle is a tackle by 3 or less defenders. So if a raiser of the raiding team is caught by 3 or less players of the defending team then the defending team is awarded 2 points instead of a single point. However, despite an award of 2 points, only 1 player can be revived.
Other than this the players in PKL are auctioned in a similar fashion as that of IPL. The teams have to bid for the best-suited players within a limited budget. In IPL the focus is more on individual performance, whereas Kabaddi required a much higher level of coordination. Therefore team composition based on player compatibility and team spirit becomes an important factor in the auction.
Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 Schedule
Season 8 of PKL was supposed to be played in 2020, however, it had to be postponed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will now begin on July 20, 2021. The final of Season 8 will be held on October 19, 2021.
If you haven’t watched Pro Kabaddi League earlier, you’ve missed out on some good action and superb performances. Do watch season 8 of PKL and experience this Indian sport in a whole new way. If you are a fan of PKL then let us know in the comments who do you think will be the winner of season 8.
You may also like
Neymar Jr. keeps the cutest promise
