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Mashal Sports and Star India initiated the Pro Kabaddi League in the year 2014 with the goal of reviving the sport of Kabaddi by involving some of the best players from across the country and on the global scene as well.
The league follows a caravan based format wherein every franchise gets to host the tournament for a week in their home city. In the first 4 seasons, eight teams were a part of the league before four more teams joined the cash-rich league.
In general, the idea of introducing a home leg was brought about in order to give the Kabaddi fans in each city a chance to cheer for the stars who were representing their home side. With each passing season, the emphasis on performing well in the home leg and building some momentum was in focus and this season has been no different.
As part of the Pro Kabaddi League 2019, each team has been slotted in to play four matches as part of their home leg and winning these four encounters has given them a massive advantage in terms of making a move up the points table.
Dabang Delhi (unbeaten), Bengaluru Bulls and Bengal Warriors are the few teams to have enjoyed a good run at home. We take a look at five franchises which have had the best records at home.
Note - Numbers are updated till 20th September 2019 and the teams are ranked on the basis of win percentage at home.
#5 Bengaluru Bulls - 44% win percentage
Matches - 32, Wins - 14, Tied - 1, Defeats - 17
Season six champions Bengaluru Bulls have been one of the most successful teams of the tournament. They have made it to the knockout stages of the competition on three occasions and have participated in two summit clashes. Talking about their performance in front of the home fans, the Bulls have played their home games in three cities, namely Bengaluru, Pune and Nagpur.
In their first-ever home leg, the Bengaluru-based franchise won three of the four matches but could not replicate this success in the next few seasons, as they picked up only three wins from a total of 12 matches.
In season 5, they could win only two of their six home games while in the sixth edition, they had won 3 matches at home. Playing at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in 2019, the Rohit Kumar-led side recorded 3 wins in 4 matches.
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#4 Patna Pirates - 44%
Matches - 32, Wins - 14, Tied - 5, Defeats - 13
Three-time champions Patna Pirates hold the distinction of qualifying for the 2nd round in five consecutive seasons. Right from the time of Rakesh Kumar to that of Pardeep Narwal, the Bihar-based franchise has always entertained the fans with their aggressive Kabaddi.
Patna Pirates have played their home legs in two cities - Patna and Ranchi. In their first home leg, Patna could register only one win. However, in the following years, the team improved its performance to have a 44% win percentage at home.
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The 2019 home leg of Patna also produced only one victory for the home franchise, while they had won two games last year. The Pirates' best home performance had come in Ranchi where they won four of the six matches in 2017. During season 2, 3 and 4, Patna won six of the twelve home matches.
#3 Bengal Warriors - 50%
Matches - 32, Won - 16, Tied - 4, Lost - 12
Bengal Warriors are one of the only three teams in the Pro Kabaddi League to have won more home matches than the number of matches lost. The Kolkata-based franchise had had a rough start to their Pro Kabaddi campaign as they struggled in the first two seasons. But, the tables turned in their favour from the third edition as the Warriors made it through to the next round in three of the four seasons.
The major factor behind Bengal's turnaround has been their good performance in the home leg. The fans at the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium have always been behind their team irrespective of how they perform.
Also Read - Pro Kabaddi: 5 players you may not know played for Bengal Warriors in PKL
Maninder Singh's men were unbeaten in the 2019 home leg while in 2017 and 2018, Bengal Warriors had registered a combined total of six wins at home. During the first four seasons, they had a lower rate of success as they could win only seven of the sixteen matches.
#2 Gujarat Fortune Giants - 56%
Matches - 16, Won - 9, Tied - 2, Defeats - 5
If this article had been written before the commencement of Pro Kabaddi 2019's Ahmedabad leg, the Gujarat Fortune Giants would have undoubtedly occupied the top spot, as they had not lost a single match in their first home leg and suffered only one defeat in the 2018 home leg.
This year, the Gujarat Fortune Giants failed to impress their home fans at the EKA Arena. Manpreet Singh's young army lost all of its home games, much to the disappointment of their fans.
Also Read - PKL 2019: Ranking all the teams based on their Facebook followers
The Ahmedabad leg had played a major role in the success of Gujarat Fortune Giants and now that the fortress at Ahmedabad has been breached, it is unlikely that they will make it to the playoffs of the seventh edition of the tournament. Ironically, Ahmedabad will host the final stage of the Pro Kabaddi League for the first time later this year.
#1 U Mumba - 65%
Matches - 37, Wins - 24, Tied - 2, Defeats - 11
With an astounding 24 victories at the Dome @NSCI Stadium, season two champions U Mumba hold the record for winning the most matches at home. Their 24 wins in 37 matches also makes them the team with the best win percentage at home. U Mumba had prospered during the reign of Anup Kumar as the 'Captain Cool' had an envious record for a home captain.
U Mumba have played their home leg matches in Mumbai, with the exception of the season one and season two finale, and twice when the Puneri Paltan used Mumbai as their home venue. In their 2019 home leg, the team could win only two matches but in the second edition of the league, U Mumba had registered six wins in Mumbai, two of which came in the semifinal and final, respectively.
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Thus, the Mumbai-based franchise is the most successful home team in PKL history. As far as the least successful team is concerned, Tamil Thalaivas hold that unwanted record with just one win in sixteen home matches.
