PKL 2021-22: Schedule for PKL season 8 announced, U Mumba to take on Bengaluru Bulls in opening clash

After over two years break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the eighth season of the Pro Kabaddi League is scheduled to take place from December 22 behind closed doors of Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Centre. Fans will be served with triple headers on the first four days while the opening clash of the season will be played between U Mumba and Bengaluru Bulls.

The League's 'Southern Derby' will then take centre-stage as Telugu Titans lock horns with Tamil Thalaivas in the second match and UP Yoddha squaring off with the defending champions Bengal Warriors in the last match of the opening day.

The triple-headers will be only-Saturday affairs throughout the whole duration of the league, starting at 7:30 pm, 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm respectively. The schedule of the first half of season 8 has come while the organisers say that the second half of the league's schedule will come in mid-January next year.

Keeping the health and safety of players in mind amid COVID times, the organisers have converted the entire venue at Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Centre into an integrated and secure bio-bubble. All 12 teams will be staying and playing at the same venue.

Anupam Goswami, CEO, Mashal Sports and League Commissioner, Pro Kabaddi League said, “The Pro Kabaddi League is known for reinvigorating and popularizing India’s own sport of kabaddi, and with the new format, we aim to continue reinventing the sport. Releasing the schedule in two halves will help teams strategize better and keep the fans engaged. The triple headers and 'Triple Panga' will provide more fans more opportunities to watch their favourite players and teams in action as they battle it out for the coveted title.”

Schedule for PKL 2021-22

 

 

 

Squads of all 12 teams

Bengal Warriors

Elite Retained Players - Maninder Singh (raider), Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh (all-rounder), Rinku Narwal (defender)

Retained Young Player - Ravindra Ramesh Kumawat (raider)

Overseas Players - Abozar Mohajer Mighani (defender, 30.5L)

Category B Domestic Players - Sukesh Hegde (raider, 30L), Sumit Singh (raider, 20L), Rishank Devadiga (raider, 20L)

Category C Domestic Players - Manoj Gowda K (all-rounder, 10L), Parveen (defender, 10L), Vijin Thangadurai (defender, 10L), Rohit Banne (defender, 10L), Darshan J (defender, 10L), Sachin Vittala (defender, 17.5L), Akash Pikalmunde (raider, 17L)

Category D Domestic Player - Rohit (all-rounder, 6L)

 

Bengaluru Bulls

Elite Retained Players - Pawan Kumar Sehrawat (raider), Amit Sheoran (defender)

Existing New Young Players - Saurabh Nandal (defender), Mohit Sehrawat (defender), Banty (raider)

Overseas Players - Ziaur Rahman (defender, 12.2L), Dong Geon Lee (raider, 12.5L), Abolfazl Maghsodlou Mahali (raider, 13L)

Category A domestic Players - Chandran Ranjit (raider, 80L), Mahender Singh (defender, 50L)

Category B Domestic Players - Deepak Narwal (raider, 26.5L), G B More (raider, 25L)

Category C Domestic Players - Mayur Jagannath Kadam (defender, 15L), Ankit (defender, 10L), Vikas (defender, 10L)

 

Dabang Delhi KC

Elite Retained Player - Vijay Kumar (all-rounder)

Retained Young Player - Naveen Kumar (raider)

Existing New Young Players - Balram (all-rounder), Sumit (defender), Mohit (defender), Neeraj Narwal (raider)

Overseas Players - Mohammad Malak (defender, 10L), Emad Sedaghat Nia (raider, 10.2L)

Category B Domestic Players - Sandeep Narwal (all-rounder, 60L), Ajay Thakur (raider, 46L), Jeeva Kumar (defender, 44L), Joginder Singh Narwal (defender, 20L), Manjeet Chhillar (all-rounder, 20L)

Category C Domestic Player - Sushant Sail (raider, 10L)

Category D Domestic Player - Vikas (defender, 6L)

 

Gujarat Giants

Elite Retained Players - Parvesh Bhainswal (defender), Sunil Kumar (defender)

Existing New Young Players - Harmanjeet Singh (raider) Sumit (defender), Ankit (defender)

Overseas Players - Hadi Oshtorak (all-rounder, 20L), Soleiman Pahlevani (defender, 11.5L)

Category A Domestic Player - Ravinder Pahal (defender, 74L)

Category B Domestic Players - Sonu (raider, 20L), Girish Maruti Ernak (defender, 20L)

Category C Domestic Players - Rathan K (raider, 25L), Mahendra Ganesh Rajput (15L), Maninder Singh (raider, 10L), Harshit Yadav (raider, 10L), Pardeep Kumar (raider, 10L), Ajay Kumar (raider, 10L)

 

Haryana Steelers

Elite Retained Player - Vikash Kandola (raider)

Existing New Young Players - Vinay (raider), Vikas Chillar (raider), Chand Singh (defender)

Overseas Players - Hamid Mirzaei Nader (all-rounder, 12.1L), Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsodlou (raider, 13.2L)

Category A Domestic Player - Rohit Gulia (all-rounder, 83L)

Category B Domestic Players - Surender Nada (defender, 20L), Ravi Kumar (defender, 27.5L), Vikas Jaglan (all-rounder, 20L)

Category C Domestic Players - Brijendra Singh Chaudhary (all-rounder, 55L), Ajay Ghanghas (all-rounder, 10L), Rajesh Narwal (all-rounder, 10L), Rajesh Gurjar (defender, 10L)

 

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Elite Retained Players - Amit Hooda (defender), Vishal (defender)

Retained Young Player - Nitin Rawal (all-rounder)

New Young Players - Pavan TR (defender), Sachin Narwal (all-rounder), Sushil Gulia (raider), Elavarasan A (defender)

Overseas Players - Mohammad Amin Nosrati (raider, 11L), Amir Hossein Mohammadmaleki (raider, 10L)

Category A Domestic Players - Deepak Niwas Hooda (all-rounder, 55L), Sandeep Kumar Dhull (defender, 45L)

Category B Domestic Players - Arjun Deshwal (raider, 96L), Naveen (raider, 22L), Dharmaraj Cheralathan (defender, 22L)

Category C Domestic Players - Amit (defender, 20L), Ashok (raider, 10L), Amit Nagar (raider, 10L), Shaul Kumar (defender, 10L)

 

Patna Pirates

Elite Retained Players - Neeraj Kumar (defender), Monu (raider)

Existing New Young Players - Mohit (raider), Rajveersinh Pratap Rao Chavan (raider), Sahil Mann (all-rounder)

Overseas Players - Jangkun Lee (raider, 20.5L), Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh (all-rounder, 31L)

Category A Domestic Players - Prashanth Kumar Rai (raider, 55L), Sachin Tanwar (raider, 84L)

Category B Domestic Players - Sunil (defender, 31.5L), Monu Goyat (raider, 20L)

Category C Domestic Players - Guman Singh (raider, 18.5L), Sourav Gulia (defender, 10L), Sajin Chandrasekar (all-rounder, 10L), Shubham Shinde (defender, 10L), Sandeep (defender, 10L)

 

Puneri Paltan

Elite Retained players - Balasaheb Shahaji Jadhav (defender), Pawan Kumar Kadian (raider), Hadi Tajik (defender)

Existing New Young Players - Sanket Sawant (defender), Pankaj Mohite (raider)

New Young Player - Govind Gurjar (all-rounder), Mohit Goyat (Raider)

Overseas Player - Victor Onyango Obiero (all-rounder, 10L)

Category A Domestic Players - Vishal Bhardwaj (defender, 60L), Baldev Singh (defender, 60L), Rahul Chaudhari (raider, 40L)

Category B Domestic Player - Nitin Tomar (raider, 61L)

Category C Domestic Players - Sombir (defender, 34.5L), E Subash (all-rounder, 10L), Karamvir (defender, 10L), Vishwas S (raider, 10L)

Category D Domestic Players - Abinesh Nadarajan (defender, 6L), Sourav Kumar (defender, 6L)

 

Tamil Thalaivas

Existing New Young Players - Sagar (defender), Himanshu (defender), M. Abishek (defender)

Overseas Players - Anwar Saheed Baba (all-rounder, 10L), Mohammad Tuhin Tarafder (defender, 10L)

Category A Domestic Players - Surjeet Singh (defender, 75L), K Prapanjan (raider, 71L), Manjeet (raider, 92L)

Category B Domestic Player - Athul MS (raider, 30L)

Category C Domestic Players - Bhavani Rajput (raider, 10L), Sourabh Tanaji Patil (all-rounder, 15L), Ajinkya Ashok Pawar (19.5L), Sahil (defender, 10L), Sagar B Krishna (all-rounder, 10L), Santhapanaselvam (all-rounder, 10L)

 

Telugu Titans

Elite Retained Player - Rakesh Gowda (raider)

Retained Young Players - Ankit Beniwal (raider), Rajnish (raider)

Existing New Young Players - Manish (defender), Akash Choudhary (defender), Akash Dattu Arsul (defender)

New Young Player - Prince (Telugu Titans)

Overseas Players - Abe Tetsuro (defender, 10L), Hyunsu Park (raider, 10L)

Category A Domestic Players - Surender Singh (defender, 55L), Siddharth Desai (raider, 1.3 Crores), Rohit Kumar (raider, 36 L)

Category C Domestic Players - Sandeep Kandola (defender, 59.5L), Ruturaj Shivaji Koravi (defender, 19.8L), Adarsh T (defender, 10L), C Arun (defender, 10L)

Category D Domestic Players - Amit Chauhan (raider, 6L), G Raju (raider, 6L)

 

U Mumba

Elite Retained Players - Fazel Atrachali (defender), Abhishek Singh (raider), Ajinkya Rohidas Kapre (all rounder), Harendra Kumar (defender)

Existing New Young Player - Navneet (raider)

Overseas Player - Mohsen Maghsoudlou Jafari (all-rounder, 12.8L)

Category B Domestic Player - Ajith V Kumar (raider, 25L)

Category C Domestic Players - Rinku (defender, 32L), Ajeet (defender, 10L), Sunil Siddhgavali (defender, 10L), Pankaj (all-rounder, 10L), Rahul Rana (raider, 10L), Jashandeep Singh (raider, 10L), Ashish Kumar Sangwan (all-rounder, 10L)

 

UP Yoddha

Retained Young Player - Nitesh Kumar (defender)

Existing New Young Players - Sumit (defender), Ashu Singh (defender), Surinder Gill (raider)

New Young Player - Nitin Panwar (all-rounder)

Overseas Players - Mohammad Taghi Paein Mahali (raider, 12L), Md. Masud Karim (raider, 10L)

Category A domestic Players - Pardeep Narwal (raider, 1.65 Crores), Shrikant Jadhav (raider, 72 L)

Category C Domestic Players - Sahil (raider, 10L), Gaurav Kumar (defender, 10L), Gurdeep (all-rounder, 10L), Gulveer Singh (raider, 10L), Ankit (raider, 10L), Aashish Nagar (defender, 10L)

-With inputs from PTI