Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating in ancient India. The objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their players as possible, and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders in 30 seconds. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but return to the game after each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.
Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among people in villages. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all of them. Four forms of kabaddi played in India are Amar, Suranjeevi, huttuttoo, and Gaminee. Amar is generally played in Punjab, Haryana, the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world, mostly by Punjabi sportsmen. Suranjeevi is the most played form of kabaddi in India and the world. This is the form used in international matches generally and played in Asian Games. Huttuttoo was played by men in Maharashtra. In Gaminee style, seven players play on each side and a player put out has to remain out until all his team members are out. The team that is successful in outing all the players of the opponent's side secures a point. The game continues until five or seven such points are secured and has no fixed time duration.
Pro Kabaddi League or abbreviated to PKL is an Indian men's professional Kabaddi league. It was launched in 2014 and is broadcast on Star Sports. It is the most popular kabaddi league in the world. It is also the second most watched sports league in India after the Indian Premier League (IPL). Puneri Paltan are the current champions of PKL.
The 2014 Pro Kabaddi League was the first season of Pro Kabaddi League. The duration of the season was from 26 July 2014 to 31 August 2014. There was double round robin matches along with two semi finals, third place and final games. 56 games were to be played in first round and 4 in play off stage making total of 60 games. 8 teams took part in first edition. First game was played on July 26 between U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers and the final was played on August 31 at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai. Jaipur Pink Panthers beat U Mumba by 35–24 to win the inaugural Pro Kabaddi League.
Bengaluru Bulls (BGB) is a professional kabaddi team based in Bengaluru that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team were champions in Season 6 and are led by Saurabh Nandal and coached by Randhir Singh. The team is owned by Kosmik Global Media. Bulls play their home matches at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium. Bulls are one of the most successful teams in PKL history after winning the trophy for the first time by defeating the Gujarat FortuneGiants in the 2018–19 season. The team was also the runner-up to U Mumba in 2015 and reached the semifinals in the inaugural 2014 season.
Bengal Warriorz (BEN) is a professional kabaddi team based in Kolkata, West Bengal that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. In 2019, they won the trophy for the first time by defeating Dabang Delhi. The team is currently led by Maninder Singh and coached by Prashant surve. The team play their home matches at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Jaipur Pink Panthers (JPP) is a professional kabaddi team from Jaipur, competing in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is currently led by Sunil Kumar Malik and coached by Sanjeev Baliyan. The team is owned by Abhishek Bachchan. Jaipur Pink Panthers play their home matches at Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium. The team is the second most successful team in league history with two titles.
U Mumba is a professional kabaddi team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The franchise is currently led by Sunil Kumar, and will be coached by Gholamreza Mazandarani, coach of Iran national Kabbadi team. The team is owned by Unilazer Ventures Pvt. Ltd with co - founders in Ronnie Screwvala and Supratik Sen. U Mumba play their home matches at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai.
Patna Pirates (PTP) is a professional kabaddi team based in Patna, Bihar, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is led by Sachin Tanwar and coached by Narender Redu. Their home ground is the Patliputra Sports Complex. The Pirates are the most successful team in PKL history with a record of winning 3 out of 8 titles and winning all of them in successive. They are also one time runners up in season 8 of pkl which started after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dabang Delhi K.C. is a professional kabaddi team based in New Delhi, India, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is currently led by Naveen Kumar Goyat and coached by Joginder Narwal. The team is owned by Radha Kapoor and they play their home matches at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, New Delhi. The team have won their maiden VIVO Pro Kabaddi League title defeating Patna Pirates in the 2021–22 season final.
Telugu Titans is a professional kabaddi team based in Hyderabad, Telangana that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. Telugu Titans is a franchise of Veera Sports owned by Srinivas Sreeramaneni of Vaya Group, of NED Group and Mahesh Kolli of Greenko Group. The Titans play their home matches at G. M. C. Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium when in Hyderabad. The Titans reached the playoffs of Season 2 and 4 in PKL.
2016 Pro Kabaddi League season was the third season of Pro Kabaddi League, a professional kabaddi league played in India since 2014. Pro Kabaddi, which saw astounding success in its second season, was all set to make its much awaited return for a third season from 30 January 2016, just five months after completion of the second season. Hyderabad hosted the opening leg of Season 3, with the first match being played between Telugu Titans and U Mumba at the Titan's home turf, Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.The winner is Patna Pirates.
Rahul Chaudhari is an Indian Kabaddi player, who has played as a defender and later became a magnificent raider. He was the first player ever to score 500, 700 and 800 raid points in Pro Kabaddi League. He was a member of the Indian National Kabaddi team that won a gold medal in the 2016 South Asian Games. After six seasons with Telugu Titans and one season for Tamil Thalaivas, Rahul now plays for Jaipur Pink Panthers.
The 2016 Pro Kabaddi League season was the fourth season of Pro Kabaddi League, that ran from 25 June to 31 July 2016.
Maninder Singh is an Indian professional Kabaddi player who plays for the India national kabaddi Team. He is the captain and lead raider of Bengal Warriors In the Pro Kabaddi League. Maninder is regarded as one of the best raiders in the league. He led Bengal Warriors to their maiden PKL trophy in 2019.
The 2018–19 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the sixth season of Pro Kabaddi League, a professional kabaddi league in India since 2014. The season began on 7 October 2018 and concluded on 5 January 2019.
The 2019 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the seventh season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season began on 20 July 2019 and concluded on 19 October 2019. The zonal system present in the previous seasons was removed, and each team played against all the other teams twice.
The 2021–22 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the eighth season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season began on 22 December 2021. The usual travelling caravan format was changed to a single venue hosting all the matches of the season due to spread of COVID-19 pandemic in India. Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bangalore was initially announced as the venue, but was later changed to the Sheraton Grand Hotel and Convention Center located in Whitefield, Bangalore.
The 2022 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the ninth season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season began on 7 October 2022 and ended on 17 December 2022. Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated Puneri Paltan in the final match to win their second title.
The 2023–2024 Pro Kabaddi League was the tenth season of the Pro Kabaddi League, a franchise based kabaddi league in India. Jaipur Pink Panthers were the defending champions.