While the cricket fans all across the globe are celebrating the beginning of the IPL season, there is some delightful news for all the kabaddi fans out there. The official list of "Elite retained players" was finally announced by Mashal Sports on 25th of March, 2019.
Season 6 was the biggest PKL season ever, where Pawan Sehrawat and Rohit Kumar's Bengaluru Bulls lifted the coveted trophy for the first time.
Last year, 21 players were retained by all the twelve franchises from all over the nation. This year, we have a total of 29 retained players since Mashal Sports has now allowed the retention of six players instead of four, from either category A, B or C with a maximum of two each from Category A and B.
Anupam Goswami, League Commissioner, VIVO Pro Kabaddi said, “The League is cognizant of the significance of squad continuity and long-term association of players with their respective teams towards creating strong hooks and bonds for fans as well as sponsors."
He further added, "With this realization, VIVO Pro Kabaddi League has consistently strengthened its Player Retention Policy to facilitate and augment squad continuity, to benefit players as well as their teams.”
Here is the official list of retained Elite players for the seventh season of PKL:
Bengal Warriors:
Baldev Singh and Maninder Singh
Bengaluru Bulls:
Rohit Kumar, Pawan Kumar Sehrawat and Ashish Kumar Sangwan
Dabang Delhi K.C:
Meraj Sheykh and Joginder Narwal
Gujarat Fortunegiants:
Sachin and Sunil Kumar
Haryana Steelers:
Vikash Kandola and Kuldeep Singh
Jaipur Pink Panthers:
Deepak Niwas Hooda and Sandeep Kumar Dhull
Patna Pirates:
Pardeep Narwal, Vikas Jaglan, Jawahar Dagar, and Tushar Patil
Puneri Paltan
No player retained
Tamil Thalaivas:
Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chillar, and Victor Onyango Obiero
Telegu Titans:
Armaan, Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari, Farhad Rahimi Milaghardan, and Krushna Madane
U Mumba:
Fazel Atrachali, Rajaguru Subramanian, and Arjun Deshwal
UP Yoddhas:
Amit and Sachin Kumar
The other non-retained players will go under the hammer on the 8th and 9th of April, as reported by them a few days back. The retained young players' list is yet to be revealed. The league is all set to commence on the 19th of July, 2019.