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The meteoric rise of kabaddi is set to welcome yet another new chapter as the 'Indo International Premier Kabaddi League (IPKL)' is all set to take center stage from the 13th of May 2019 and will feature a total of eight teams that include 160 Indian players and 16 foreign imports.
The franchise league, a joint initiative of the New Kabaddi Federation of India (NKF) and broadcasters DSPORT will play host to the eight teams namely Bangalore Rhinos, Chennai Challengers, Diler Dilli, Haryana Heroes, Mumbai Che Raje, Pondicherry Predators, Pune Pride, and Telugu Bulls.
As a massive shot in the arm for the tournament, ace ex-Indian cricket team opener Virender Sehwag is all set to be involved as the face of the league which will be played out across 44 matches in three major cities namely Pune, Mysuru and Bengaluru.
How do the team compositions look?
The eight teams are set to comprise of marquee players and will also include five raiders, seven defenders, three all-rounders in addition to the presence of two foreign signings. Each team will also be under the tutelage of one coach and will also have a physiotherapist in the roster.
Big names such as raider Vimal Raj V, all-rounder Sunil Jaypal, Vipin Malik, Shashank Wankhede, Parveen Kumar will be featuring for the eight teams as part of the league.
How did the drafts pan out?
In order to ensure the balance in all eight teams, a maximum of two 'Grade A' players have been picked by each team in addition to adding prodigious talent across the B, C and D categories. Below is the list of the top category players in each team -
Bangalore Rhinos - Arumugam, Vipin Malik.
Chennai Challengers - CH Manoj Kumar, Mofi Mondal.
Diler Dilli - Sunil Jaypal, P Aruna Chalam.
Haryana Heroes - Satnam Singh, Sagar Singh.
Mumbai Che Raje - Shashank Wankhede, Vijay Singh Savner.
Pondicherry Predators - Karmbir, Parveen Kumar
Pune Pride - Jitendra Yadav, V Vimal Raj.
Telugu Bulls - Harvinder Singh, Nageshwar Singh.
Who are some of the big guns associated with the league and what did they say?
The ambassador for the league, Virender Sehwag linked the league with the Asian Games 2018 and was quoted saying "It pained the whole nation including myself to see India lose their golden stranglehold in the Kabaddi competition at the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games. Kabaddi is a pride of the country including many such indigenous sports which all of us at some point grew up playing," and added "When the organizers of IPKL came to me, I felt their ideas and passion would certainly help us regain our place at the pedestal of Asian and world Kabaddi. I wish the IPKL and all players all the very best in this new journey.”
Mr. Ravi Kiran, director, IPKL was also quoted on similar lines as he said, "This is an effort towards creating a robust and transparent system for growing the sport of kabaddi, which we all love so much around the country. This league is a revolutionary step towards increasing and strengthening the reach of this sport."
Where will the league take place?
The inaugural phase of the franchise league will be contested at Pune's Belawadi Stadium and will feature a total of 20 matches from May 13th - May 21st while the second phase will take place in Mysuru's Chamundi Vihar Stadium from May 24th - May 29th where a total of 17 games will be played out.
The final leg is slated to be held in Bengaluru from the 1st of June and a total of seven games will finally culminate to the grand finale at the Shree Kanteerava Stadium on 4th June.
Is the league going to be broadcasted?
DSPORT will be the official broadcaster of the league and will telecast the games during the prime time of 8 PM - 10 PM while the matches will also be broadcast on MTV, MTV HD and DD Sports.
DSPORT - English
MTV, MTV HD - Hindi
What is the real highlight of the league?
In a first for any franchise league in India, the league will also be sharing 20% of its revenue with the players, in addition to the salaries and prize money.
The total prize money will be ₹4 crore, with the winning team pocketing ₹1.25 Crore and the runners-up taking home ₹75 lakh.
The second runner-up will receive ₹50 lakh while the third runner-up will finish with a sum of ₹25 lakh.
Full squads
Bengaluru Rhinos - Arumugam, Vipin Malik, Manoj Kumar, G Ambeswaran, Narendra Kumar, Vishal, Pawan, Ishu Sharma, Vaibhav Shivaji Kadam, Gokul Krishnan R, Kuldeep, M Mathan Kumar, Gurmeet Singh, Sandeep Kumar, Lakan Varkiya, Chiranjeevi, Ravinder, Ajit Kumar PN; Coach - R Manjunatha.
Chennai Challengers - CH Manoj Kumar, Mofi Mondal, Sunil Kumar, Dhanraj B, Rajesh Dhiman, Mandeep, J Ankalu, Sandeep Hooda, Ravinder, R Venkatesh, T Surya Chandra, Dinesh Kumar, Hemanth Kumar, Rajat Raju Bobade, M Kumaran, Namdeo Iswalkar, G Prasad, Ramanjeet Singh; Coach - Mohhamed Ismail.
Diler Dilli - Sunil Jaypal, P Aruna Chalam, Pratik Suresh, Shashidar YD, Chandra Bhushan Singh, K Naveen, Deepak Sharma, Vinod Kumar, Pareekshith A Suvarna, Hardeep Singh, R Ramesh, Parmod Kumar, Pardeep, Mukesh Jaglan, Pankaj Singh, Jitendre Kumar, Vipul, Amit Tomar, Parvinder.
Haryana Heroes - Satnam Singh, Sagar Singh, Selva Muthu, Kaushik H, Mandeep, Amit Kumar, Bhuvendra Kumar Attri, Monu, Akshay Jaywanth Bodake, Ram Dyal, Satish Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, Harinder, Atul Raut, Laxmeesh M Bhat, Diptesh Chandiwade, Naveen Malik, Gagan Kumar, Sumit Dahiya.
Mumbai Che Raje - Shashank Wankhede, Vijay Singh Savner, Mohit Narwal, Manish, Surender, R Nagaraju, Ravi, Mahesh S Timmapur, Suhas Apposo Vagare, Rashid Maula, Maniveera Kantha, Karmbir Dhanda, Kiran M, Saurabh Kumar, Diljeet Singh Chavan, Rohit Kumar, Yogesh Ramesh Navale, A Arul; Coach - Sneha Karnale.
Pondicherry Predators - Karmbir, Parveen Kumar, Sandeep, Kuldeep, M Ramachandran, Sunil Prakesh Shivtarkar, Ankit, Nitin Choudary, Rakesh, Sombir, Sunil Kumar, Saddam Nasir Husen Attar, SR Rajesh, Amit Kumar Arya, MV Narendra, Sonu, Mohit, Abhishek R.
Pune Pride - Jitendra Yadav, V Vimal Raj, Sachin Poovaiah, G Vishnu Kumar, Dalbir Malik, Sachin Kumar, Ameer, S Venkadesh, P Vasanth, Akash Pawar, G Pavan Kumar, Love Kumar, Sachin, Shaik Abdula Shaik Gulab, Soni, Venkatesha, Ajay Kumar, Jaskirat Singh
Telugu Bulls - Harvinder Singh, Nageshwar Singh, Abhishek HS, Vivek Prabhakar Bhoite, Pavan Puttu, Pramod, Praveen Kumar, Amrit Pal Singh, Sagar Avinash Kale, Love Kumar, Rahul Mawne, Vishal Nain, Vikash Choudary, Avnish, Anil K Patil, Abhinandan Kumar, Vinay H, Prakesh Ramappa.
