October 7th officially announced as Pro Kabaddi 2022 start date; Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad named as PKL 9 venues

Dabang Delhi KC are the defending champions of the Pro Kabaddi League (Image: PKL)

Pro Kabaddi 2022 will start on October 7 this year. After an action-packed auction that happened on August 5 and 6, the 12 kabaddi franchises will lock horns against each other in PKL 9 in the final quarter of 2022.

The 12 teams participating in this year's PKL are U Mumba, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Patna Pirates, Bengaluru Bulls, Bengal Warriors, Dabang Delhi KC, Gujarat Giants, UP Yoddhas, Haryana Steelers, Tamil Thalaivas, Telugu Titans and Puneri Paltan. Dabang Delhi KC are the defending champions of PKL 2022.

Pro Kabaddi 2022 venues

The first seven editions of PKL followed a caravan format, where each team got an opportunity to host the tournament for a few days. However, in PKL 8, all matches of the competition happened in Bengaluru with zero fans in attendance. The organisers had to make the changes because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the pandemic situation has improved this year, Pro Kabaddi League organisers have decided to conduct the matches in three venues. Puneri Paltan's home turf Pune, Telugu Titans' home ground Hyderabad and former champions Bengaluru Bulls' base Bengaluru will host the PKL 2022 games.

Announcing the venues for the tournament, Mashal Sports Head - Sports Leagues and League Commissioner of Pro Kabaddi League, Anupam Goswami said:

"We continue to achieve impressive success in this goal, as was proven earlier this year by vivo PKL Season 8 which was conducted in a comprehensive bio-bubble."

"Now, we are even more enthusiastic about the upcoming vivo PKL Season 9 as our fans will be back in stadiums across Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad to experience the pulsating action up-close of their favourite teams and stars.”

Pro Kabaddi 2022 start date

The start date for Pro Kabaddi 2022 is October 7. The PKL 9 schedule with full timings in IST is yet to be announced.

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Vinay has been working as a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda since 2018. A smart writer, he has a total previous work experience of 8 years working for the likes of Swag Cricket and Fambeat, and believes in thoroughly verifying each and every piece of information before writing any article. His meticulous methods have led him to amass a significant readership of close to 30 million at Sportskeeda, along with winning several awards such as Machine Writer, Top Earning Affiliate, and Perfectionist Writer in his Sportskeeda journey so far.

Vinay’s love for cricket blossomed when playing the sport during school days. Today, he is a staunch supporter of his home IPL side Gujarat Titans and is also the ambassador of franchise’s initiative Race with the Titans. Unsurprisingly, his all-time favorite cricketers also feature from his favorite IPL franchise - Rashid Khan, Matthew Wade, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill.

When not writing, Vinay likes to play cricket and hang out with his friends. Being an industry veteran, his influence goes beyond the sport of cricket and has interviewed several Kabaddi stars such as Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Daniel Odhiambo, Vijay Malik, and Girish Ernak as well. He also is a fan of professional wrestling.

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Edited by Prasen Moudgal