Pro Kabaddi League 2017 starts : Telegu Titans beat Tamil Thalaivas

You may not be a great fan !- you could even be a harsh critic, yet there can be no denial that ‘Indian Premier League’ has changed the way games are played !!  ~ and can you imagine what brings Sachin and megastar Chiranjeevi together !!!

Nimmagadda Prasad, an Industrialist is known for his ventures in the Pharmaceutical and Television industries;  with actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, Prasad is one of the major shareholders of the popular  Maa TV.  He was major stake owner in Matrix Pharma.

VennilaKabadiKuzhu was full time movie on the game played in villages and Suri shot to fame with his ‘parotta’ antics.  Vijay who earlier played the game with Sangeetha, was the protagonist playing the game in Ghilli.  Not sure whether the Pandiarajan film of 2001 Kabadi Kabadi was based on the game.  Many heroes have played sadugudu in films. 

The interesting game ‘Kabaddi’,  is uniquely Indian, born in the southern state of Tamil Nadu,  played across the country and even in parts of the world with a sizeable Indian population – but surprisingly or rather sadly earlier versions from 2014,  there was   no Tamil Nadu team in the Premier league.  There is no denial of the fact that the attempted Super league ‘Premier Kabaddi League’ took the game to higher  echelons of viewed game in thousands of crore worth broadcast rights, sponsors, sporting leagues and more. 

Kabaddi dates back to ancient, even pre-historic times. In Hindu mythology, historians find resemblance with the origins of Kabaddi.  The trapping of great warrior Abhimanyu in ‘chakra vyuha’ is analogous with the game.   From time immemorial, this game has been associated with show of physical strength and valour.

On Friday, (28.7.17) Telugu Titans defeated debutants Tamil Thalaivas 32-27 in the opening match of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), which got underway at a nearly-full Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.  Captain Rahul Chaudhari set the tone early for the hosts who raced to an 18-11 lead by half-time. In total, Rahul bagged as many as 10 points.NileshSalunke was another star performer for the winning side earning for his side seven points out of his 14 raids.

The 2017 Pro Kabaddi League season that has just started  is the fifth season of Pro Kabaddi League, a professional kabaddi league in India since 2014. It is organised by Mashal Sports and Star India. This season includes 12 teams after the inclusion of four new teams from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Gujarat.

Auctions for the new season were held in May, before which the existing teams were allowed to retain one player each. The auction saw over 400 players go under the hammer and a total of Rs 46.99 crore spent by the 12 franchises.  The most expensive pick of the auction was raider NitinTomar, who was bought by the new UP franchise for a sum of Rs 93 lakh.  Following in second place was Rohit Kumar after the Bengaluru Bulls picked him for aRs 81 lakh price. The most expensive foreign player was South Korea's Jang Kun Lee after he was retained by the Bengal Warriors for Rs 80.3 lakhs.

This year, Tamilians can feel happy for they have a team – the ‘Tamil Thalaivas’ captained by Ajay Thakur and coached by K Baskaran.  The owners are Nimmagadda Prasad and the famous Sachin Tendulkar.   Baskaran is no newcomer to PKL – as it was he who  led the Pink Panthers franchise to its maiden victory at the inaugural event. He remained as the Pink Panthers coach from 2014 to 2016. He started coaching the Puneri Paltans franchise from 2016 and secured third place in season four.   In the  2016 Kabaddi World Cup, Baskaran was the Coach for the Indian Men’s team. The team went on to beat Iran in the finals and become champions for the third consecutive time.

We have seen auctioner Richard Madley for IPL.   Bob Hayton,  a professionally qualified Auctioneer and Valuer with more than 30 years standing, well known for his work in the field of Fine Arts and Chattels within the UK, conducted the Pro Kabaddi auctions 2017. 

Following the game ? -  which team are you supporting?  Here is the list of 12 teams : Bengal Warriors, Bengaluru Bulls, Dabang Delhi, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Patna Pirates, PuneriPaltan,  Telegu Titans, U Mumba, Gujarat Fortune giants, UP Yoddha, Tamil Thalaivas, Haryana Steelers  ~  and you are looking at the Captains at the inaugural ceremony.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

29^th July 2o17.