After a gruelling third season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi, the teams finally went into a well-deserved slumber. However, their rest was short-lived as Star Sports had announced that there will be two seasons in a year from 2016 and season 4 will begin on June 25th.
Ahead of the fourth season, all the teams will get a chance to completely revamp their squad as the 8 franchises were allowed to retain only 2 players each. The others will go into the auction, which will be held later, before the fourth season.
And today, the teams have finally revealed who they will be holding on to for the upcoming season.
Full list of players retained:
| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| Bengal Warriors | Nilesh Shinde | Girish Maruti Ernak |
| Bengaluru Bulls | Pawan Kumar | Ashish Kumar Sangwan |
| Dabang Delhi | Kashiling Adake | Selvamani K. |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers | Rajesh Narwal | Jasvir Singh |
| Patna Pirates | Pardeep Narwal | Rajesh Mondal |
| Puneri Paltan | Manjeet Chhillar | Deepak Niwas Hooda |
| Telugu Titans | Rahul Chaudhari | Sukesh Hegde |
| U Mumba | Anup Kumar | Rishank Devadiga |
This certainly flags off the run-in for the fourth season and the franchises will now go up to their think-tanks to find the perfect balance for the squad.
Last season’s winners Patna Pirates have retained the top scorer Pardeep Narwal and utility player Rajesh Mondal. It is surprising to see them let go off Season 3 MVP Rohit Kumar and all-rounder Sandeep Narwal, both of who will not be short of suitors in the auction. Season 2 champions, U Mumba have, unsurprisingly, retained their talisman Anup Kumar along with young livewire Rishank Devadiga. A team which has not seen many changes over the years is likely to go under a transformation in the auction.
Dabang Delhi have kept hold of Kashiling Adake, who will be playing in his 4th season for the team while young raider Selvamani K will also don the blue in the upcoming season. Bengaluru Bulls have opted not to retain their most experienced player and captain Surjeet Narwal and it is likely they will invest heavily to fill up the remaining spots, something that the Season 2 finalists need to do to overcome last season’s horrendous finish.
Rahul Chaudhari and Sukesh Hegde will once again represent the Telugu Titans while Jaipur Pink Panthers have held on to the only two players who played well for them last season – Rajesh Narwal and Jasvir Singh. In what could be called as another surprise decision, Nitin Tomar will go into the pool as Bengal Warriors retained Nilesh Shinde and Girish Maruti Ernak. If they fail to sign him in the auction, it could prove to be costly for the team that made their semi-final debut last season.
The other debut semi-finalists from last season Puneri Paltan have decided not to re-sign explosive raider Ajay Thakur, opting to keep captain Manjeet Chhillar and raider Deepak Niwas Hooda. The team from the cultural capital of Pune will be looking for a repeat of last season’s transfer window as they aim to establish their credentials as title challengers yet again.
The player retention list has thrown up some surprises and there are plenty of notable names who go into the auction pool like Rohit Kumar, Sandeep Narwal, Shabeer Bappu, Fazel Atrachali, Ajay Thakur, Nitin Tomar, Jang Kun Lee, Mohit Chhillar, Meraj Sheykh, Rohit Baliyan, Bajirao Hodage, Wazir Singh, Pravin Newale, Sonu Narwal, Jasmer Singh Gulia, among others.
The fourth season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi starts 25th June.
