The fifth season of Pro Kabaddi League is likely to be held during mid-2017 and there is a strong possibility of its duration being extended as well. Four seasons of the most popular kabaddi league in the world have been played till now and there is a lot of anticipation about the fifth, after the huge success of 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, which was won by India in October.
Sources told Sportskeeda that the organisers are looking to make a few changes to upcoming season of pro kabaddi to make it more popular and comprehensive. Pro Kabaddi Season 3 and 4 were held in 2016 during January-February and June-July, respective, and were both won by Patna Pirates. However, the year 2017 is likely to see only one season of Pro Kabaddi being organised.
Also read: Kabaddi World Cup final becomes most watched non cricket event in Indian sports history
“A lot of talks have been going on and Pro Kabaddi 5 is going to take place during mid-2017. There is a possibility of the season being longer and more teams could come in as well. Although nothing is concrete in terms of the latter, Pro Kabaddi will not take place during January-February this year. The league is likely to grow in coming years and concrete plans for its expansion are going on,” the source said.
Pro Kabaddi League been a huge hit across the country ever since its inception in 2014, giving birth to many national heroes including the likes of Anup Kumar, Rahul Chaudhari, Pardeep Narwal, Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chhillar and Mohit Chhillar among others. The effect of Pro Kabaddi League’s success was seen during the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, which saw India lift the trophy to reiterate its dominance in the ancient sport.
In fact, the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup final was the most watched non-cricket event in Indian sports history, eclipsing PV Sindhu’s gold medal match against Spain’s Carolina Marin at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Kabaddi has a huge following in tier-II cities across the country and has a strong domestic culture in states like Haryana and Maharashtra, something that can be reflected in its viewership.
At present, Pro Kabaddi League features eight teams and players from foreign nations like Iran, South Korea, Bangladesh and Poland. Should the organisers decide to increase the length of the tournament, the possibility of having more teams would rise as well. Despite a large number of players hailing from Haryana, Pro Kabaddi League does not have a team from the state, something that we could see happening in the future.
