NEW DELHI: The eighth season of the homegrown kabaddi tournament Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) will begin on 22 December, said Mashal Sports, the organiser of the league, on Tuesday.
The league will be held without spectators and at a single venue in Bengaluru, moving away from its original caravan format, the company said in a statement. The season was originally supposed to be held in 2020 but was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The league will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network and streamed on its over-the-top video platform Disney+Hotstar.
Anupam Goswami, CEO, Mashal Sports and league commissioner of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League, said, “Season 8 of the league will be hosted in Karnataka, which is a significant geography for kabaddi and PKL fans in India. Bengaluru has all the facilities for the conduct of big competitive sports events with best safety practices, and we look forward to demonstrating this with PKL Season 8.”
The event will be held in a bio-secure bubble, he added, making it a first for any professional indoor contact sports league in India.
The PKL player auctions held in August this year in Mumbai had retained 59 players. More than 450 players went under the hammer. Of these, 190 players were sold for ₹48.22 crore. Noteworthy player auctions included Pardeep Narwal who was bought by UP Yoddha for Rs1.65 crore, becoming one of the most expensive players auctioned at a league outside of cricket. Siddharth Desai was retained by Telugu Titans for Rs1.30 crore.
The game’s format is influenced by the cricket Indian Premier League and has 12 teams in total. The current champion is Bengal Warriors.
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