Pro Kabaddi 2024: As 11th season gets underway, here’s all you need to know about the 12 teams

The 2024 Pro Kabaddi League – the 11th edition of the league – is all set to begin on Friday at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.

Unlike the previous season when the league was played in a full-fledged caravan format across 12 different cities, the 2024 Pro Kabaddi League will be restricted to just three cities – Hyderabad, Noida, and Pune.

While the first leg of the league stage will be held in Hyderabad from October 18 to November 9, the second leg will be held at the Noida Indoor Stadium from November 10 to December 1. The final leg will then be held at the Balewadi Badminton Stadium in Pune from December 3 to 24.

The schedule and venues for the playoffs are expected to be announced at a later date.

Despite the competition being restricted to three cities, there has been no reduction in the number of teams competing, with all 12 teams from the previous edition slated to be in action.

The teams will first battle it out in a round-robin format to qualify for the playoffs. A total of 137 matches are expected to be played in the three-months since the league starts.

Here’s a look at each of the 12 teams competing:

Bengal Warriors

Bengal Warriors, the former champions, roped in the services of Iranian defender Fazel Atrachali in the auction. He has also been named their captain, taking off that extra role from their star raider Maninder Singh. They have also parted ways with coach K Baskaran and elevated Prashant Surve – former assistant coach – to the top position.

Warriorz also have brought in Nitesh Kumar to complement Atrachali, but there is a visible drop in experience when it comes to other defenders. They also seem to be short in all-rounders.

Bengal Warriorz Full Squad: Nitin Kumar, Vishwas S, Yash Malik, Manjeet, Deep Kumar, Sushil Kambrekar, Shreyas Umbardand, Aditya S. Shinde, Dipak Arjun Shinde, Maharudra Garje, Maninder Singh, Vaibhav Bhausaheb Garje, Sagar Kumar, Nitesh Kumar, Mayur Jagannath Kadam, Pranay Vinay Rane, Praveen Thakur, Akash B Chavhan, Arjun Rathi, Hem Raj, Sambhaji Wabale, Chai-Ming Chang (Overseas player), Fazel Atrachali (Overseas player)

Bengaluru Bulls

Bengaluru Bulls, who won the sixth season of PKL, will be hoping to get back to their glory days in this edition. They splurged heavy to strengthen their raiding department, bringing in Ajinkya Pawar for Rs 1.107 crore. They have also reunited with Pardeep Narwal – the league’s most successful raider. Narwal had made his PKL debut with the Bulls back in the second season.

Narwal has also been handed the captaincy duties and it remains to be seen how the veteran adjusts to the new role with an evidently weak defensive unit.

Bengaluru Bulls Full Squad: Ponparthiban Subramanian, Rohit Kumar, Sushil, Pankaj, Manjeet, Chandranaik M, Lucky Kumar, Aditya Shankar Powar, Akshit, Arulnanthababu, Parteek, Saurabh Nandal, Pardeep Narwal, Ajinkya Ashok Pawar, Nitin Rawal, Jai Bhagwan, Jatin, Pramot Saising (Overseas player), Hasun Thongkruea (Overseas player)

Dabang Delhi

Having reached the playoffs in each of the last five editions but only a solitary title to show for, Dabang Delhi will hope to replicate their heroics from the 2021 edition. Interestingly, they have named two captains – Naveen Kumar and Ashu Malik. They have also promoted Joginder Narwal from assistant coach to the head coach, replacing Rambir Singh Khokar.

Dabang Delhi already had a strong raiding department with Kumar and Malik, but they have bolstered it further with the addition of Siddharth Desai. They have an inexperienced defensive unit, who would need to come good if the team has to keep their playoffs run going.

Dabang Delhi Full Squad: Naveen Kumar, Ashu Malik, Vikrant, Sandeep, Mohit, Ashish, Himmat Antil, Manu, Yogesh, Ashish, Siddharth Sirish Desai, Brijendra Singh Chaudhary, Nitin Panwar, Rinku Narwal, Himanshu, Vinay, Gaurav Chhillar, Rahul, Parveen, Md. Mijanur Rahman (Overseas player), Mohammad Baba Ali (Overseas player)

Gujarat Giants

Having roped in defender Neeraj Kumar during the auction, Gujarat Giants have straightaway pushed him to a leadership role as the captain. The team will be guided by PKL-winning coach Ram Meher Singh.

The Giants seem to have a well-rounded raiding unit with Rakesh, Guman Singh, and Parteek Dahiya. They also have Kumar, Sombir in defensive and have also brought in Iranian all-rounder Mohammad Nabibaksh, who will have a lot of heavy lifting to do.

Gujarat Giants Full Squad: Balaji D, Jitender Yadav, Nitin, Parteek Dahiya, Rakesh, Guman Singh, Sombir, Rohan Singh, Nitesh, Harsh Mahesh Lad, Manuj, Mohit, Neeraj Kumar, Himanshu Singh, Monu, Himanshu, Aadesh Siwach, Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh (Overseas player), Vahid RezaEimehr (Overseas player), Raj D. Salunkhe

Haryana Steelers

The runners-up of the previous edition, the Haryana Steelers have continued to show faith in the young Jaideep Dahiya as the captain and Manpreet Singh as the coach. Despite being silent for most of the auction, they splurged heavy on Iranian defender Mohammadreza Chiyaneh – roping him in for a massive Rs 2.07 crore.

The defensive unit is their strength but with Vinay being the only experienced raider, they might find themselves in some trouble. The young Shivam Patare, who gave a good account of himself in his debut season last year, will be expected to step up.

Haryana Steelers Full Squad: Ghanshyam Roka Magar (Overseas player), Rahul Sethpal, Sahil, Gnana Abishek S, Vikas Ramadas Jadhav, Manikandan N, Jaya Soorya NS, Hardeep, Shivam Anil Patare, Vishal S. Tate, Jaideep, Vinay, Sanjay, Ashish Gill, Naveen, Manikandan S., Sanskar Mishra, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh (Overseas player)

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Led by one of the most successful raiders in the league in recent times – Arjun Deshwal – the Jaipur Pink Panthers have assimilated a strong squad. They have two-time PKL winning coach Sanjeev Baliyan at the helm.

They have strengthened their raiding department with Vikash Kandola and Shrikant Jadhav to assist Deshwal. They also have the experienced Surjeet Singh in the defence along with the likes of Ankush and Reza Mirbagheri, forming a formidable unit.

Jaipur Pink Panthers Full Squad: Arjun Deshwal, Reza Mirbagheri (Overseas player), Nitin Kumar, Sombir, Ritik Sharma, Ronak Singh, Abhijeet Malik, Abhishek KS, Ankush, Surjeet Singh, Lucky Sharma, Arpit Saroha, Ravi Kumar, Neeraj Narwal, Vikash Kandola, Shrikant Jadhav, Navneet, K. Dharanidharan, Mayank Malik, Aamir Wani, Amir Hossein Mohammadmaleki (Overseas player)

Patna Pirates

Shubham Shinde returns to the Patna Pirates outfit after three years and he has been named the captain straightaway. The three-time champions have some major changes in their squad with their best raider from last season Sachin Tanwar, best defender Krishan, and former captain Neeraj Kumar all making their way out.

Shinde will thus have a new look team with the young M Sudhakar expected to lead the raiding responsibilities. They also have the young Sandeep Kumar, Meetu Sharma and have also brought back South Korean Jang Kun Lee as raiders. Gurdeep and Ankit in the defence will also be expected to chip in, if the young Pirates are to make a dent this season.

Patna Pirates Full Squad: Ankit, Sandeep Kumar, Ayan, Deepak, Sahil Patil, Navdeep, Abinand Subhash, Kunal Mehta, Sudhakar M, Manish, Shubham Shinde, Gurdeep, Thiyagarajan Yuvaraj, Babu Murugasan, Deepak Rajender Singh, Meetu, Devank, Prashant Kumar Rathi, Sagar, Aman, Pravinder, Jang Kun Lee (Overseas player), Hamid Mirzaei Nader (Overseas player)

Puneri Paltan

The reigning champions will once again be led by the previous edition’s MVP Aslam Inamdar. They have also retained the likes of Pankaj Mohite, Mohit Goyat, Akash Shinde, Sanket Sawant, Abhinesh Nadarajan – all of whom played crucial roles in their winning run last season.

They do have a big hole though with defender Mohammadreza Chiyaneh departing, and coach BC Ramesh will have some work to do to fill the gap.

Puneri Paltan Full Squad: Abinesh Nadarajan, Gaurav Khatri, Dadaso Shivaji Pujari, Nitin, Tushar Dattaray Adhavade, Vaibhav Balasaheb Kamble, Aditya Tushar Shinde, Akash Santosh Shinde, Aslam Mustafa Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Pankaj Mohite, Sanket Sawant, Mohit, Aman, Vishal, V. Ajith Kumar, Sourav, Mohd. Amaan, Aryavardhan Navale, Ali Hadi (Overseas player), Amir Hassan Noroozi (Overseas player)

Tamil Thalaivas

A vital cog in the wheel for Tamil Thalaivas since their PKL debut, Sagar will once again lead the team as the captain. They have appointed Udaya Kumar as the head coach and former PKL winner Dharmaraj Cheralathan as the strategy coach.

The Thalaivas also made the most expensive purchase of the auction, roping in Sachin Tanwar for Rs 2.15 crore. With Narender to complement Tanwar, the Thalaivas finally seem to have a reliable raiding duo. Their defensive unit, however, seems to be over reliant on Sahil Gulia and skipper Sagar.

Tamil Thalaivas Full Squad: Dhiraj Ravindra Bailmare, Ramkumar Mayandi, Anuj Kaluram Gawade, Nitesh Kumar, Nitin Singh, Ronak, Vishal Chahal, Narender, Aashish, Himanshu, M. Abishek, Mohit, Sagar, Sahil, Sachin, Sourabh Fagare, Moein Safaghi (Overseas player), Amirhossein Bastami (Overseas player)

Telugu Titans

Star raider Pawan Sehrawat will continue to lead the Telugu Titans in the 2024 PKL. Following a few underwhelming seasons, the Titans have appointed Krishan Kumar Hooda – the title winning coach with Dabang Delhi – as their new head coach for the season.

The Titans invested heavily in all-rounders during the auction, bringing in Vijay Malik, Amit Kumar, Sanjeevi S, Shankar Gadai and others. Despite the presence of all-rounders, there seems to be no backup for skipper Sehrawat who might once again have to do most of the heavy lifting in the attacks.

Telugu Titans Full Squad: Ajit Pandurang Pawar, Shankar Bhimraj Gadai, Rohit, Sagar, Nitin, Chetan Sahu, Ankit, Omkar Narayan Patil, Praful Sudam Zaware, Sanjeevi S, Krishan, Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, Vijay Malik, Sunder, Manjeet, Ashish Narwal, Amit Kumar, Mohammad Malak (Overseas player), Milad Jabbari (Overseas player)

U Mumba

U Mumba have appointed Sunil Kumar as their captain as they look to get back to their glory days. Kumar has previously led the Jaipur Pink Panthers to their second title and is the most successful leader in PKL history. They continue to trust Gholamreza Mazandarani as the coach, who will take charge for a sixth straight season.

With Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Rinku and others in fray, defence is the biggest strength for U Mumba. They lack in the raiding department with Guman Singh moving out. The onus will be on the all-rounder duo of Manjeet and Amirmohammad Zafardanesh to score points in the attack.

U Mumba Full Squad: Rinku, Amirmohammad Zafardanesh (Overseas player), Ajit Chouhan, Lokesh Ghosliya, Deepak Kundu, Sunny, Bittu, Gokulakannan M., Mukilan Shanmugam, Sombir, Shivam, Sunil Kumar, Manjeet, Parvesh Bhainswal, Satish Kannan, Vishal Choudhary, Stuwart Singh, Shubham Kumar, Aashish Kumar, M. Dhanasekar, Amin Ghorbani (Overseas player)

UP Yoddhas

The UP Yoddhas have named Surender Gill – one of their most consistent raiders over the years – as the captain. He will have Bharat Hooda and Bhavani Rajput for company in a rather strong attacking outfit.

Sumit will lead their charge in the defence but the others in the squad lack in experience, which could prove to be the Achilles heel for the Yoddhas.

UP Yoddhas Full Squad: Sachin, Keshav Kumar, Gangaram, Jayesh Vikas Mahajan, Gagana Gowda HR, Hitesh, Shivam Chaudhary, Ashu Singh, Sumit, Surender Gill, Sahul Kumar, Bharat, Mahender Singh, Bhavani Rajput, Aksham R. Suryawanshi, Vivek, Heidarali Ekrami (Overseas player), Mohammadreza Kaboudrahangi (Overseas player)

The 2024 PKL will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on Disney+ Hotstar.