Pro Kabaddi League to start in Mumbai in July; Chennai may get a team in 2017

Managing Director of Mashal Sports, the owner of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Charu Sharma confirmed that the financial capital of India, Mumbai, will host the opening leg of the tournament this year. Charu Sharma is the brainchild behind the league which started last year.

The Indian commentator revealed that this year’s edition would be similar to last season.

He said, “Mumbai will host the opening leg and we will be following the same template as last year.

“The league will begin virtually around the same time as last year (end of July) with teams playing in one of the eight cities for four days before moving on to the next leg.”

Asked about changes that could happen to the league, Sharma said that there are not any major changes in the offing as they want to repeat the success enjoyed by the league last season.

“There are just a few structural changes in the offing; nothing major. As they say, ‘why try and fix something that isn’t broken’,” Sharma opined.

Responding to rumours surrounding the league being divided into two halves, Charu Sharma said that such a change could come in place in the future, but not for this season.

He retorted, “We did consider it this year but after some deliberations dropped it. We just do not want Kabaddi to be on TV screens for 40 days at a stretch before it disappears completely.”

Chennai may get a PKL team from 2017

The PKL currently has 8 franchises – Jaipur Pink Panthers, U Mumba, Bengaluru Bulls, Patna Pirates, Telugu Titans, Dabang Delhi, Bengal Warriors and Puneri Paltan – with the Pink Panthers emerging as the winners in the first year. Due to the success of the inaugural season, fans are clamouring for more teams in the tournament.

Sharma, however, said that they’ll stay true to the promise made at the start that there will not be any new teams in the first three years. But, he said that if they do decide to add another team from the fourth year, Chennai would be the city benefitting.

“We have made a pledge that we wouldn’t be adding any teams for the first three years but in the fourth, if we do add, Chennai could be one,” the former Royal Challengers Bangalore CEO said.

Before signing off, he revealed talks were going on to create a women’s league similar to the PKL.