A total of 59 players have been retained ahead of season 8 of the Pro Kabaddi League, which will take place in December, league organiser Mashal Sports said on Friday.
These players were retained across all three categories with 22 in the Elite Retained Players (ERP) category, six in the Retained Young Players (RYP) category, and 31 in the New Young Players (NYP) category as teams begin assembling their squads for Season 8 slated to take place in December.
Over 450 non-retained players including all squad players from PKL Seasons 6 and 7 will go under the hammer at the auctions to be held in Mumbai from 29-31 August.
The pool of talent retained by the teams is a mixture of young and experienced players. Defending champions Bengal Warriors have retained their captain Maninder Singh along with one of the main heroes of the PKL 7 Final – Mohammed Esmaeil Nabibaksh. Top points scorer of PKL 7 Pawan Kumar Sehrawat has been retained by Bengaluru Bulls for a second consecutive season. The MVP of PKL 7, Naveen Kumar, has been retained by Dabang Delhi K.C. under the ‘Retained Young Players’ category.
Experienced players like Fazel Atrachali (U Mumba), Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar (Gujarat Giants), Vikash Khandola (Haryana Steelers), and Nitesh Kumar (U.P. Yoddha) have been retained by their respective teams. Pardeep Narwal, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Chaudhari, Siddharth Desai, and Rohit Kumar will be part of the player pool.
The Category A domestic players auction will be broadcast live on 30 August on the Star Sports Network and video streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar.
Anupam Goswami, league commissioner, Pro Kabaddi and CEO, Mashal Sports said, “Preserving the spirit of squad continuity and team dynamics, the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League has maintained its Player Retention Policy, benefitting players and teams alike. The excitement among viewers and fans this year is palpable.”
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