PKL Season 10 arrives with rejigged teams, tighter competition and global aspirations

Pro Kabaddi League returns for its tenth edition with major team changes and renewed global aspirations for the sport.

Dual threat: Gujarat Giants has roped in Iranian heavyweights, Fazel Atrachali and Mohammad Esmail Nabibakhsh, whose performances helped Puneri Paltan finish second in Season 9. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In the last 10 years, the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has churned out generational talents in the sport. So much so that superstars of the game such as Pardeep Narwal did not find a place in the Hangzhou Asian Games squad, despite holding most individual records in the league —1568 raid points, 1180 successful raiding attempts, 79 super tens and 73 super raids.

For the upcoming edition, sweeping changes were made by most teams at the auctions, either to better their playing philosophy or construct a more versatile squad, or both.

Take Gujarat Giants for example, whose coach Ram Mehar Singh finally got the time to tune the side to his liking. Besides retaining promising youngsters like Parteek Dahiya, he has also roped in Iranian heavyweights, Fazel Atrachali and Mohammad Esmail Nabibakhsh, whose performances helped Puneri Paltan finish as runner-up in Season 9.

Meanwhile, at Telugu Titans, all eyes will be on new recruit Pawan Sehrawat, the captain of the national side who is also the most expensive player in PKL history (₹2.61 cr). Having injured his anterior cruciate ligament last season, Sehrawat recovered just in time to lead India to the top of the podium in Hangzhou. So there’s much to catch up on, in terms of game time and records.

Haryana Steelers have the services of Siddharth Desai whose value rose from ₹20 lakh last year to a crore this time.  Baahubali, as his moniker goes, looks leaner and fitter heading into the season and would be a force to reckon with once he gets going.

Pune swapped Atrachali and Nabibakhsh (who they had brought on for a total of ₹2.25 cr) for compatriot Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh (₹2.35 cr).

Mohammadreza Shadloui training with Puneri Paltan

A gifted allrounder, Shadloui has been among the best defenders over the last two seasons and can be the perfect answer to the likes of Sehrawat. It speaks volumes of his capabilities if he’s being touted as someone who can be as lethal as peak Atrachali in the left corner and be malleable like Nabi in crunch situations.

Also, European representation returns to the PKL with star Polish raider Piotr Pamulak joining Randhir Sehrawat’s Bengaluru Bulls this season.

Top draw: At Telugu Titans, all eyes will be on new recruit Pawan Sehrawat, the captain of the national side who is also the most expensive player in PKL history (₹2.61 cr).  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The big picture

With the controversial rulebook conflict in the Asian Games final casting doubts on the professionalism and efficacy of the sport’s existing governing infrastructure, the PKL might be the glamorous remedy it needs.

While the tenth edition is being made available for free on Disney+Hotstar (mobile only), its return to the 12-city caravan format, along with its increasing production value, are all intended to take the sport to new audiences, riding on the fresh interest generated at the Asian Games.

However, the women’s national team — a three-time gold medal-winning side — is conspicuous by its absence from the franchise scene.

“We don’t want to force-feed when the commercial circles aren’t optimal, just because I said so,” said Charu Sharma, the league’s founder and member of the technical committee, when talking to  Sportstar earlier.

Taking the example of IPL, he added, “Despite the massive amount of money this one sport (cricket) has, it took them 15 years to establish a women’s league. I just hope everyone is a little patient with us because I don’t think there’s a shortage of players. We first need to beat the commercial challenge before we can move forward.”

U Mumba head coach Gholamreza Mazandarani (C)

PKL is the most popular and commercially viable entity in kabaddi today. While India reaps the dividends of its player footfall being fine-tuned and filtered by the league, other nations have not been so lucky. U Mumba’s coach Gholamreza Mazandarani, who also manages the Iranian national men’s side, believes that PKL should take the lead in this matter.

“I once pitched the idea of an Asian League to E. Prasad Rao (PKL’s technical director), Deoraj Chaturvedi (former president of the International Kabaddi Federation), and a few franchise owners. Give stronger countries like India more representation but allow other countries to get involved. Get clubs to come in. This will help popularise the sport and bolster our efforts to get the game recognised for the Olympics,” he said.

With high expectations and a wide fan base propping up not just the league but also the health of global kabaddi as well, it remains to be seen what the tenth edition of PKL will further bring to the sport.