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 offense, 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.
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.
Puneri Paltan is a professional kabaddi team that represents the city of Pune, Maharashtra in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team, coached by BC Ramesh, plays at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. In the 10th season of the Pro Kabaddi League, they won their first ever trophy after beating Haryana Steelers in the Final and are defending champions of the league. They won the Sport Franchise of the year award at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Sports Business Awards ceremony which held at New Delhi in October 2024.
Ajay Thakur is an Indian professional Kabaddi player and the former captain of the Indian National Kabaddi Team.He is widely regarded as one of the Greatest Players Of All Time.He was part of the national teams which won 2016 Kabaddi World Cup and gold medal at 2014 Asian Games. He was awarded the Padma Shri and Arjuna Award in 2019.
Pardeep Narwal is an Indian international kabaddi player who currently plays for the Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi League and also the Indian national team. Widely regarded as the greatest raider in kabaddi history, he led the Patna Pirates to three straight titles and holds a multitude of the league's raiding records.
Manjeet Chhillar is an Indian former professional kabaddi player who currently serves as the assistant coach of the Telugu Titans. During his professional career, he played for the Indian national team and won a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games and 2014 Asian Indoor Games in Incheon. He also played for teams in the Pro Kabaddi League including the Bengaluru Bulls, Puneri Paltan, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Tamil Thalaivas, and Dabang Delhi. The Government of India conferred the Arjuna Award on him for his achievements in sports. In an exclusive chat with NNIS Sports, Chhillar termed it a 'dream' to receive the prestigious award. He was also a member of the state team of Haryana and is on top of Pro Kabaddi’s all-time leaderboards for tackle points (391), successful tackles (374) and High 5s (25).
Dharmaraj Cheralathan is an Indian Kabaddi player who currently represents TAMIL THALAIVAS in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi league. He was a member of the Indian Kabaddi team that won gold at the Kabaddi World Cup in 2016. Nicknamed “Anna”, Cheralathan led Patna Pirates to the Pro Kabaddi league in Season 4.
Fazel Atrachali is an Iranian kabaddi player who currently plays for Bengal Warriors in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League and the Iran National kabaddi team.
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.
Mohit Chhillar is an Indian kabaddi player who currently plays for Tamil Thalaivas in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League. He hails from Nizampur, Haryana and has been one of India's best defenders for the past decade. He is a versatile defender who can complement other corner defenders and form successful partnerships. Known for his overpowering holds and swift dashes, Mohit is fifth in the league's all-time High 5s (17) chart and fourth in the Tackle Points (240) and Super Tackles (20) leaderboards.
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.
Abouzar Mohajer Mighani is an Iranian kabaddi player who currently plays for the Iran national kabaddi team and Bengal Warriors, in the Pro Kabaddi League.
Hadi Tajik is an Iranian professional kabaddi player represents Iran in international matches and also currently plays for Puneri Paltan in the Indian Pro Kabaddi League.
Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh also known as Moein Nabibakhsh is an Iranian professional Kabaddi player who currently plays as an all rounder for Gujarat Giants in the Pro Kabaddi League and represents Iran national kabaddi team in the international circuit. He was the part of Iran national kabaddi team that won gold in the 2018 Asian Games.
R. Sriram Is an Indian professional kabaddi player. He is the raider in the Puneri Paltan Kabadi team, he has played for UM(U Mumba) and DD team.
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.
Aslam Inamdar is an Indian professional Kabaddi player who plays in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). He began his career playing in the sub-junior nationals in Maharashtra, then joined Puneri Paltan as a raider for the 2022 PKL season. In 2023, he competed for India at the 2022 Asian Games; the team won gold, controversially defeating Iran 33–29 in the finals. Inamdar continues to play for Jai Bajrang, a club that helped him to have stints with Union Bank and Air India.
Mohammad Reza Shadloui Chianeh is an Iranian kabaddi player who plays as an allrounder in the positions of defense and offense for Iran in international matches and for Haryana Steelers in the Indian Pro Kabaddi League. He rose to prominence as a reliable defender, especially in the Pro Kabaddi League, within a few seasons, as he racked up as many as 177 tackle points from just 45 matches in the PKL.
The 2024 Pro Kabaddi League will be the eleventh season of the Pro Kabaddi League, a franchise-based Kabaddi league in India. The season will begin on 18 October 2024.
