Pro Kabaddi League 2019: Top 5 Kabaddi players with the most Facebook followers

The Pro Kabaddi League has changed the lives of many individuals. Before the tournament, not everyone knew about the Kabaddi stars of the world. But now, the kabaddi players have become household names in the country.

Mashal Sports, in collaboration with Star Sports India, started this revolutionary IPL-style Kabaddi tournament with eight city-based franchises battling to win the coveted title. Patna (Patna Pirates), Hyderabad (Telugu Titans), Mumbai (U Mumba), Pune (Puneri Paltan), Delhi (Dabang Delhi), Kolkata (Bengal Warriors), Bengaluru (Bengaluru Bulls), and Jaipur (Jaipur Pink Panthers) were the first to get their own franchise in the league.

Thanks to the league’s enormous success, it expanded to a 12-team tourney with teams from Ahmedabad (Gujarat Fortune Giants), Chennai (Tamil Thalaivas), Sonipat (Haryana Steelers) and Lucknow (UP Yoddha) joining the fray.

The crazy fans now give the kabaddi players the same treatment as cricketers, which has also helped them in gaining loads of Facebook followers.

Here is a list of the top 5 most followed Kabaddi players on Facebook:

#5 Manjeet Chhillar - 99.5k followers

India’s most successful Kabaddi all-rounder, Manjeet Chhillar has over 99,000 followers on Facebook. The aggressive player has represented multiple franchises in the Pro Kabaddi League, with his top performances coming during his stint with the Bengaluru Bulls and Puneri Paltan. The all-rounder was also a part of the Indian team which lifted the World Cup in 2016.

However, his performance has not been the same for his current franchise, Tamil Thalaivas. Given the calibre that Manjeet has, the Chennai-based team has retained him for the next season.

The Thalaivas would hope that Chhillar brings his ‘A’ game this season and helps his team reach the second stage of the league for the first time.

#4 Deepak Niwas Hooda - 100.3k followers

Another Indian all-rounder to feature on this list, Deepak Niwas Hooda is the fourth most followed Kabaddi player on Facebook. Hooda had started his Pro Kabaddi League journey with the Telugu Titans where he had performed an awe-inspiring partnership with Rahul Chaudhari. However, Deepak moved to Puneri Paltan soon and emerged as the top player of the Pune franchise. Also, the Haryanvi all-rounder was a part of the World Cup winning team in 2016.

In the player auction of season six, Rajasthan-based Jaipur Pink Panthers picked the Indian all-rounder in their team. But, Hooda's individual brilliance could not lead his team to the play-offs.

He will don the pink jersey once again this year and the 100k+ fans of Hooda will hope their star shines the brightest in seasons seven. Hooda also has 135k followers on Instagram which shows how popular a player he is.

#3 Rohit Kumar - 121.2k followers

Rohit Kumar rose to stardom after he made his debut in the Pro Kabaddi League for Patna Pirates. He had formed a formidable raiding trio with captain Manpreet Singh and youngster Pardeep Narwal. The tall raider has been popular amongst the young fans because of his eye-catching raids.

Rohit also has a huge fan following on social media. Rohit has over 121k followers on Facebook which shows the mega fan-base that this raider has. The 29-year-old’s following after season 6 where he proved himself as one of the best captains and led his team, Bengaluru Bulls to title glory.

However, he was not at his individual best in the previous season as he could collect only 171 points in 24 matches. His fans will hope they see the best of Rohit Kumar in the upcoming season of the Pro Kabaddi League.

#2 Rahul Chaudhari - 248.6k followers

Rahul Chaudhari has been the poster boy of the Pro Kabaddi League since season one. He transformed himself from an unknown Kabaddi player to the biggest star in the history of the league in just a few years. Rahul was the heart and soul of the Telugu Titans franchise but unfortunately their association came to an end when the Titans released him ahead of season seven.

Rahul Chaudhari was snapped up by the Tamil Thalaivas in the auction as for the first time we will see him play in a team other than Telugu Titans. The Uttar Pradesh-born raider has 825 raid points in his name. His unbelievable records and charming looks make him one of the most loved Kabaddi players.

With nearly 2,50,000 followers on Facebook, Rahul Chaudhari ranks second in the list of the most followed Kabaddi players on the social networking site.

#1 Anup Kumar - 414.8k followers

Anup Kumar, the player who led the Indian team to the Kabaddi World Cup in 2016 has the most number of Facebook followers amongst the Kabaddi players. The raider had also achieved mega success in the Pro Kabaddi League. As the captain of U Mumba, he won the championship in the second edition apart from finishing at the runners-up position in the first and the third season.

Individually, Anup Kumar played exceptionally well as a raider for U Mumba but as the seasons passed, his performances dipped. He played for the Jaipur Pink Panthers in season 6 but the Pink Panthers crashed out of the tournament in the first round itself, leading to an anti-climatic end to Anup's career.

The former PKL champion will coach Puneri Paltan in the upcoming season of the Pro Kabaddi League and it will be intriguing to see if he could inspire the Paltans to their maiden PKL title.