Pro Kabaddi League or PKL is a professional Kabaddi League launched in 2014. The league’s inception was influenced by the popularity of the Kabaddi tournament at the Asian Games, in 2006, and its format was influenced by the IPL, the T20 franchise cricket league of India.
In the start, there were doubts over League’s success noting that, unlike cricket, there were relatively fewer well-known players in Kabaddi. However, the inaugural season saw a viewership of a huge 43.5 crores which was second to the 2014 IPL’s 55.2 crores viewership.
So far there have been eight seasons of the Pro Kabaddi league and the 9th season winner is Jaipur Pink Panthers. Here is the list of the Pro Kabaddi Winners from 2014 to 2023.
Season 1
Winner: Jaipur Pink Panthers
The first signing and auction of players for the 8 teams took place on May 20, 2014. The duration of the season was from July 26 to Aug 31, 2014. The final was played between Jaipur Pink Panthers and U Mumba on Aug 31, in which Jaipur Pink Panthers emerged as the winner of the inaugural Pro Kabbadi League. Pink Panthers beat U-Mumba by 35-24 with 11 score difference (SD).
Season 2
Winner: U Mumba
U Mumba won the second season of the Pro Kabaddi League, it beats the Bengaluru Bulls with 36-30 points. The first game was played on 18 July 2015 and the final was played on 23 August 2015. The Telugu Titans stood in the 3rd position in the league.
Season 3
Winner: Patna Pirates
Patna Pirates beats U Mumba by 31-28, in the final. The final was played at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi. Pardeep Narwal emerged as the Beast Raider (Most Raid Points) and Manjeet Chhillar as Best Defender (Most Tackle Points) in the league.
Season 4
Winner: Patna Pirates
Patna Pirates won the league for the second time since its inception. PP defeated the Jaipur Pink Panthers in the final to take home the trophy.
Season 5
Winner: Patna Pirates
The 2017 season started on 28 July 2017 and the final match was played between Patna Pirates and Gujarat Fortune Giants. The season was won by Patna Pirates beating Gujarat by 55-38 in the final taking the trophy home for the 3rd time.
Season 6
Winner: Bengaluru Bulls
Bengaluru Bulls won the final against the Gujarat Fortune Giants in 2018. the most expensive foreign player this season was Fazel Atrachali from Iran, who was bought by U Mumba for 1 Cr. Bengaluru Bulls beat Gujarat by 38-33 in the final.
Season 7
Winner: Bengal Warriors
Bengal Warriors clinched their maiden Pro Kabaddi League title in 2019. BW outplayed Dabang Delhi by 39-34 taking the trophy home. Pardeep Narwal emerged as the first-ever player to reach 1000 points in the league.
Season 8
Winner: Dabang Delhi
The 2021-2022 season was the eighth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League won by Dabang Delhi. Dabang Delhi outplayed Patna Pirates in final to take the trophy home for the first time.
Season 9
Winner: Jaipur Pink Panthers
Jaipur Pink Panthers beat Puneri Paltans 32-29 in the final match played today 17th December 2022. So finally Abhishek Bachchan’s team Jaipur Pink Panthers has won the 1st and 9th seasons of the pro kabaddi.
