In order to identify Future Kabaddi Heroes (FKH), a talent scouting programme under the aegis of Mashal Sports Pvt. Ltd. — organisers and rights owners of the ProKabaddi League — will be conducted in 11 cities in three phases.
The programme will begin in Mumbai on February 5 and move to Patna, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Jaipur.
Last year 3,420 young players took part in the programme and after a three-stage selection process, 85 made it to the PKL auction pool.
Among the prominent players who have come through this programme are Nitesh Kumar (UP Yoddha), Naveen Kumar (Dabang Delhi) and Surender Singh (U Mumba).
Launching the third edition, PKL League commissioner Anupam Goswami said, “With the FKH programme, our aim is to identify promising talent and build successive generations of high-quality kabaddi players.
“This initiative has been very successful in each of its two editions so far with aspirants being selected by the franchises. This is a testament to the depth of Kabaddi talent in our country and the ability of the programme to identify these new young heroes of the mat.”
Creating opportunities
Former India captain Anup Kumar said, “This is a unique initiative that serves as a strong base for young players to move towards their dream of playing the sport at a professional level. It creates opportunities for them to demonstrate their mettle on the biggest kabaddi stage, the PKL.”
The expert panel conducting the Phase 1 programme comprise Srinivas Reddy, Pratap Shetty, Ramesh Bhendigiri, Rakesh Kumar, Banani Saha, K. Bhaskaran, Chajuram and Ratanlal Thakur.
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