Table of content
Details
Event name
Pro Kabaddi League 2022
Organiser
Mashal Sports
Timeline
7th October 2022 - 17th October 2022 (competition)
First Started
2014
Location
India
Type
7-a-side
Budget
NA
President
Anand Mahindra and Charu Sharma
Maximum trophies won
Patna Pirates (3)
Latest champion
Jaipur Pink Panthers (2)
History
The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL)was pitched as a hockey-based version of the IPL model to offer a thrilling showdown of Kabaddi matches annually. Since its inception in 2014, the PKL began with eight teams, which have scaled to 12 since 2018 (fifth season).
Held in India, this international league includes a prolific display of athleticism and raw skillset as players come from worldwide to compete and lift the trophy. The PKL attempted to commercialise the kabaddi, which enjoys popularity more than cricket and football in rural India. With a rich tradition inheriting the bouts of Kusti, this unlikely kabaddi league highlighted the thirst of the domestic audience for sports entertainment beyond the foolproof experience of cricket and football.
Besides, India is the undisputed champion of all five Kabaddi World Cups. It made this event an open arena for all Kabaddi professionals and fans worldwide to watch the best panga on the mat. Pardeep Narwal of India is the best raider in PKL (1542 points), and Fazel Atrachali from Iran is the most feared tackler (424).
Theme
The Pro Kabaddi League theme follows the classical practices of the game with additional rules to enhance competitiveness. It includes:
The raiding team loses a player if unable to earn a touch in three consecutive raids, with the last raid, so called the do-or-die raid
A defensive team comprising three or fewer players can earn a double point if they tackle the incoming raider (super tackle)
Besides, each PKL match includes 40 minutes of playtime with a five-minute interval between the two halves. Also, if a team loses all the players, it's declared all out, and the opposition team wins valuable bonus points. The 12 teams competing in the league have unique mascots that ensure splendid performances to connect deeply with an engaging audience.
Registration
In the ninth season of the Pro Kabaddi League, 12 teams played 132 games in double rounds. Each team played 11 matches in home and away stadiums. The top two teams advance to the semifinals, while the bottom four teams occupying the first six spots must play two elimination matches to reach the penultimate stage of the league.
The winning team from the two semifinal matches will compete for the prestigious championship trophy.
Check out the final standings:
Teams
Point Table
Jaipur Pink Panthers (Champion)
82
Puneri Paltan
80
Bengaluru Bulls
74
U.P. Yoddhas
71
Tamil Thalaivas
66
Dabang Delhi K.C.
63
Haryana Steelers
61
Gujarat Giants
59
U Mumba
56
Patna Pirates
54
Bengal Warriors
53
Telugu Titans
15
Star Players
Check out the best players from the 12 teams in the Pro Kabaddi League, who, over the years, have produced unique instances of le panga:
Teams
Players
Bengal Warriors
Maninder Singh
Shrikant Jadhav
Akash Pikalmunde
Suyog Gaikar
R Guhan
Parshant Kumar
Aslam Thambi
Girish Maruti Ernak
Surender Nada
Amit Sheoran
Parveen Satpal
Shubham Shinde
Sakthivel R
Soleiman
Pahlevani
Vaibhav Garje
Deepak Hooda
Ashish Sangwan
Vinod Kumar
Ajinkya Kapre
Rohit
Manoj Gowda
Balaji D
Bengaluru Bulls
Vikash Kandola
More G B
Lal Mohar Yadav
Neeraj Narwal
Harmanjit Singh
Bharat
Nageshor Tharu
Mahender Singh
Saurabh Nandal
Mayur Kadam
Sudhakar Krishant
Aman
Rajnesh
Ran Singh
Narender Hooda
Ponparthiban Subramanian
Sachin Narwal
Rahul Khatik
Dabang Delhi K.C.
Naveen Kumar
Manjeet
Ashu Malik
Ashish Narwal
Suraj Panwar
Ravi Kumar
Sandeep Dhull
Amit Hooda
Vishal
Anil Kumar
Monu
Dipak
Krishan
Vinay Kumar
Vijay Kumar
Md. Liton Ali
Aakash
Vijay Malik
Tejas Patil
Reza Katoulinezhad
Gujarat Giants
Chandran Ranjit
Prashanth Kumar Rai
Mahendra Rajput
Rohit Kumar
Dong Geon Lee
Purna Singh
Sonu
Pardeep Kumar
Rakesh
Sohit
Sawin
Mohammad Ghorbani
Sandeep
Vijin Thangadurai
Rinku Narwal
Baldev Singh
Sourav Gulia
Sandeep Kandola
Manuj
Kapil
Ujjval Singh
Priyank Chandel
Arkam Shaikh
Parteek Dahiya
Rohan Singh
Shankar Gadai
Haryana Steelers
K. Prapanjan
Rakesh Narwal
Manjeet
Vinay
Mohammad Mahalli
Maninder Singh
Lovepreet Singh
Sushil
Meetu Sharma
Manish Gulia
Joginder Narwal
Jaideep Dahiya
Mohit Nandal
Ankit
Monu Hooda
Naveen Kundu
Harsh
Sunny Sehrawat
Amirhossein Bastami
Navneet
Nitin Rawal
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Rahul Chaudhari
Bhavani Rajput
Arjun Deshwal
V Ajith Kumar
Navneet
Nitin Panwar
Devank
Sunil Kumar
Ankush
Nitin Chandel
Sahul Kumar
Deepak Singh
Lucky Sharma
Ashish
Abhishek KS
Woosan Ko
Reza Mirbagheri
Marimuthu Kamaraj
Patna Pirates
Sachin
Monu
Anand Tomar
Vishwas S
Rohit
Ranjit Naik
Anuj Kumar
Akshay Jaywant
Bodake
Neeraj Kumar
Sunil
Thiyagarajan Yuvaraj
Manish
Shivam Chaudhary
Naveen Sharma
Rohit Gulia
Sajin C
Sager Kumar
Abdul Insamam
Mohammadreza Chiyaneh
Daniel Odhiambo
Puneri Paltan
Pankaj Mohite
Mohit Goyat
Akash Shinde
Aslam Inamdar
Aditya Shinde
Fazel Atrachali
Sombir
Sanket Sawant
D Mahindra Prasad
Abinesh Nadarajan
Badal Singh
Alankar Patil
Rakesh Ram
Harsh Lad
Gaurav Khatri
Mohammad Nabibakhsh
Balasaheb Jadhav
Govind Gurjar
Tamil Thalaivas
Ajinkya Pawar
Himanshu Narwal
Himanshu Singh
Narender
Sachin
Ankit
Sahil
M. Abishek
Himanshu
Sagar
Arpit Saroha
Aashish
Mohit
Sahil Gulia
Md. Arif Rabbani
K. Abhimanyu
Visvanath V
Thanushan Laxmamohan
Telugu Titans
Monu Goyat
Ankit Beniwal
Rajnish
Abhishek Singh
Siddharth Desai
Vinay
Surjeet Singh
Vishal Bhardwaj
Parvesh Bhainswal
Vijay Kumar
Adarsh T
Ankit
Prince D
Muhammed Shihas
Palla Ramakrishna
Mohit Pahal
Mohit
Nitin
Mohsen Maghsoudlou
Ravinder
K Hanumanthu
Hamid Nader
Sumit
U Mumba
Guman Singh
Ashish
Ankush
Shivam
Kamlesh
Jai Bhagwan
Rupesh
Sachin
Pranay Rane
Heidarali Ekrami
Vishal Mane
Vishnu Landge
Surinder Singh
Satywan
Harendra Kumar
Prince
Rinku
Shivansh Thakur
Rahul Sethpal
K Magar
Mohit
Gholamabbas Korouki
U.P. Yoddhas
Pardeep Narwal
Nitin Tomar
Gulveer Singh
James Kamweti
Surender Gill
Rathan K
Durgesh Kumar
Rohit Tomar
Aman
Mahipal
Anil Kumar
Abozar Mighani
Babu M
Jaideep
Nitesh Kumar
Sumit
Ashu Singh
Shubham Kumar
Sandeep Narwal
Gurdeep
Nehal Desai
Nitin Panwar
Schedule
The outcome of the 132 Pro Kabaddi League saw the top six teams qualify for the final round.
These matches occurred between 7th October 2022 to 10th October 2022. Out of the top six teams, the first two qualified for the semifinals, while the rest four played eliminators on 13th December 2022. The semifinals took place on 15th January 2022. Check out the schedule of the playoffs that led to the last clash between Jaipur Pink Panthers and Puneri Paltan:
2022 Eliminator 1
Venue
Score
Bengaluru Bulls vs Dabang Delhi K.C.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor
56-24
2022 Eliminator 2
Venue
Score
U.P. Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor
36(4)-36(6)
2022 Semifinal 1
Venue
Score
Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Bengaluru Bulls
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor
49-29
2022 Semifinal 2
Venue
Score
Puneri Paltan vs Tamil Thalaivas
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor
39-37
2022 Final
Venue
Score
Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Puneri Paltan
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor
33-29
Venue
VIDEO
Pro Kabaddi League matches get organised in indoor stadiums across India. All matches get played on synthetic turf across both home and away fixtures for 12 teams. During season 9, only 4 indoor stadiums of Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Mumbai hosted 132 group matches, two eliminators, and both the semifinals. The final of the PKL 9th season took place in the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium on 17th December 2022 between Jaipur Pink Panthers and Puneri Paltan.
Check out the stadiums and their seating capacity for organising kabaddi league games:
Team
Stadium
Seating Capacity
Bengal Warriors
Netaji Indoor
12000
Bengaluru Bulls
Kanteerava Indoor
4200
Dabang Delhi K.C.
Thyagaraj Sports Complex
4494
Gujarat Giants
EKA Arena
4000
Haryana Steelers
Motilal Nehru School of Sports
2000
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Sawai Mansingh Indoor
2000
Patna Pirates
Patliputra Sports Complex
3500
Puneri Paltan
Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex
4200
Tamil Thalaivas
Jawaharlal Nehru
5000
Telugu Titans
Gachibowli Indoor
5000
U Mumba
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor
5000
U.P. Yoddhas
Babu Banarasi Das Indoor
5000
Broadcasting Rights and Match Ticket Availability
The Star Sports Network is the official broadcaster of the Pro Kabaddi League across India. Want to watch on OTT? Subscribe to Disney Hotstar+ to catch the latest scores if you cannot manage TV time to watch your favourite team raid across the opponent's turf.
While the competition is over, the 10th season shall resume in October, or check out for more updates on the official website of Pro Kabaddi.
Conclusion
The Pro Kabaddi League is a breath of fresh air in the worlds of MMA and wrestling. The active clash of raw strength, critical intelligence, and seamless strategies make kabaddi games a miniature battlefield, where each team dares the other's limits. PKL is an inspiring success, with its overall viewership just below the IPL.
The OTT viewership is at an all-time high of 1.3 crores.
Besides, it led to unprecedented revenue generation and inspired thousands of kabaddi players across India to strive and dream beyond the struggles of meeting ends. It also invigorated the traditional Kusti akhara, the nest of kabaddi. Jaipur Pink Panthers winning the PKL for the third time make it worth the watch if they equalise with the most crowned Patna Pirates in the 10th season.