Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Patna Pirates and Gujarat Fortune Giants engage in war of words
What's the story?
The PKL has provided us some entertaining moments throughout its existence since its inception four seasons ago. As the fifth season rolls in, it is becoming increasingly clear that a huge market awaits the return of this kabaddi league all over India. Star Sports have renewed their contract with the PKL recently as the popularity of the sport continues to grow. Season 5 too, is expected to take off. For all the players involved, the PKL provides a massive platform to launch their kabaddi careers. One team in particular has taken the league by storm.
Former PKL winners and defending champions, Patna Pirates, have always been a team to look out for. But this time around the team aren't doing all the talking on the kabaddi stage.
Twitter has been known to get fans amped up for big showdowns and a seemingly harmless post has suddenly garnered a lot of attention on social media thanks to the Patna and Gujarat teams' twitter handlers.
The trouble started when Gujarat posted a photo of their team post-training on an off day with the tweet reading "The weekend doesn't mean we stop training." The innocent reveal was, however, mocked by Patna as can be seen from their reply.
In case you didn't know...
The PKL returns for an emphatic fifth season on 28th July and will continue till 28th October and shall include four new teams including the new Gujarat franchise called Gujarat Fortune Giants.
The heart of the matter
The twitter battle between the Pirates and the Fortune Giants didn't end with just one, however, as the Giants roared back with their own witty reply to the Pirates, urging them towards a physical showdown.
The Pirates weren't having any of it though and took matters back into their own hands following the impending challenge made by the Gujarat side.
The sparring between the two PKL teams made for some entertaining viewing and hyped the upcoming tournament on social media like never before.
What's next?
It could be a marketing strategy or just some healthy banter but Gujarat and Patna are not willing to back down from each other any time soon and it will make for some interesting television when the two sides take each other on during the PKL Season 5.
Author's take
The twitter exchange personally has me excited for the new PKL season as it promises big things and like previous seasons, the league will most likely deliver on each one of them.