The Pro Kabaddi League 2017 season is set to be something that we have never seen before. The timeline of the competition, scheduled for a July start, is three months, but it will feature more than 130 matches!
No other Indian franchisee league -- be it the Indian Premier League (IPL) or the Indian Super League (ISL) -- has attempted anything like this, ever.
Four teams have been added to the existing eight teams and Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who is also the co-owner of ISL side Kerala Blasters, has invested on a Pro Kabaddi team from Chennai.
The auction for the 12 teams takes place Monday May 22, and we can't but feel that the top raiders, defenders and all-rounders may be looking at relishing being a part of Tendulkar's team.
#VivoProKabaddi is the talk of the town! How much will @sachin_rt's personal experience with the sport help in building Team Tamil Nadu? pic.twitter.com/jSBEyZySms
— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) May 15, 2017
"I enjoyed a lot of support from Chennai during my playing days. The city is dear to me," mentioned the cricket legend.
"If my presence helps the league (in increasing its profile), I will be happy about that."
Top 10 players going under the hammer in the auction:
- Mohit Chhillar
- Manjeet Chhillar
- Fazel Atrachali
- Rishank Devadiga
- Rohit Kumar
- Rajesh Narwal
- Shabeer Bapu
- Jasvir Singh
- Rakesh Narwal
- Fazel Atrachali
Pro Kabaddi League 2017 teams: At a glance
| Team name | City | Owners / Co-owner |
| Patna Pirates | Patna, Bihar | Rajesh V Shah |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers | Jaipur, Rajasthan | Abhishek Bachchan |
| U Mumba | Mumbai | Ronnie Screwvala |
| Dabang Delhi | Delhi | Radha Kapoor |
| Telugu Titans | Hyderabad | Veera Sports |
| Puneri Paltan | Pune | Insurekot Sports |
| Bengaluru Bulls | Bangalore | Kosmik Global Media |
| Bengal Warriors | Kolkata | Kishore Biyani |
| TBD | Chennai | Sachin Tendulkar |
| TBD | Uttar Pradesh | GMR Group |
| TBD | Haryana | JSW Group |
| TBD | Gujarat | Adani Group |
Pro Kabaddi League 2017 auction: At a glance
Retained players:
| Team | Player |
| Telugu Titans | Rahul Chaudhari |
| Patna Pirates | Pardeep Narwal |
| Bengaluru Bulls | Ashish Sangwan |
| U Mumba | Anup Kumar |
| Bengal Warriors | Jang Kun Lee |
| Dabang Delhi | Meyraj Sheykh |
| Puneri Paltan | Deepak Hooda |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers | None |
