Pro Kabaddi League 2018: Top 5 Kabaddi players with the most Instagram followers
The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has helped in changing the lives of many individuals. Before the league’s inception, hardly anyone knew about the Kabaddi stars of our country. But now thanks to this league, not only the Indian kabaddi players but also the overseas players have become household names in the country.
Mashal Sports, in collaboration with Star Sports India, initiated PKL as an IPL-style Kabaddi tournament, wherein eight city-based franchises battled in a two-month long tournament. Patna (Patna Pirates), Hyderabad (Telugu Titans), Mumbai (U Mumba), Pune (Puneri Paltan), Delhi (Dabang Delhi), Kolkata (Bengal Warriors), Bengaluru (Bengaluru Bulls), and Jaipur (Jaipur Pink Panthers) were the first eight cities to have their own PKL teams.
However, due to the league’s success, it expanded to a 12-team tournament after introducing teams from Ahmedabad (Gujarat Fortune Giants), Chennai (Tamil Thalaivas), Sonipat (Haryana Steelers) and Lucknow (UP Yoddha).
The diehard fans now give the kabaddi players the same treatment as celebrities, which has also helped them in gaining loads of Instagram followers.
Here is a list of the top 5 most followed Kabaddi players on Instagram:
#5 Deepak Nivas Hooda (107k followers)
Deepak Niwas Hooda started his PKL career as an all-rounder playing for the Telugu Titans. His performances made him a player to reckon with. Hooda has generated a huge fan following with his Kabaddi skills. He was the second costliest player in the inaugural PKL auction with a contract worth 12.6 lakhs.
He moved to Puneri Paltan after playing for the Titans for 2 seasons. He led the team from Pune to a third place finish in the 3rd season with brilliant performances. The all-rounder was also a part of the Indian team which lifted the World Cup in 2016.
The Haryanvi all-rounder’s Instagram account has over 1,00,000 followers which shows his ever-growing popularity. He is currently a part of the Jaipur Pink Panthers side in PKL season 6.