Pro Kabaddi League to continue with existing caravan model

The programme was jointly hosted by AKFI (Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India) and Mashal Sports, the organisers of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League. Close to 300 aspirants turned up for the three-day long trial in the city, with Rambir Khokhar and Manpreet Singh making up the expert panel. In an exclusive chat with DTNext, Anupam Goswami, League Commissioner, Pro Kabaddi League, spoke about the FKH programme and the PKL as a whole.  

The same selection panel does not travel to all centres and individual coaches who are a part of the selection panel in certain centres do not have a view on the overall central shortlist so there is no advantage afforded to them. In phase 3, we give adequate time to all franchises to attend the camp and assess the shortlisted players for themselves before these players are drafted into the auction pool. So, all franchises are on equal footing regarding the talent assessment.

The squad size will remain unchanged at between 18 to 25 for Season 6 of Pro Kabaddi. It is an ideal squad size given that the playing team on the mat, at any point of time is 7.

In its first leg, the Future Kabaddi Heroes (FKH) programme was held in 18 cities to identify the best Kabaddi talent that the country has to offer. The cities have been chosen based on expert assessment of Kabaddi talent spotted in local tournaments held there in the past. We consulted with the AKFI and state federations for their expert opinions to finalise the centres as well, as they are very closely connected with the grassroots Kabaddi system.

The existing format has worked well for us in generating a strong fan following. The caravan model ensures that every franchise gets an equal opportunity to garner support from its home fans. It also ensures that the home fans have enough opportunity to experience the action live in their home stadium and be close to their heroes.

The response that we received bears testimony to the fact that if there is sport of high quality on offer, people of our country will show their support, irrespective of which part of the country they hail from. The following spans geographic boundaries and shows the extent of love the country has for its home-grown sport. 

It is our constant endeavour to evolve and fine-tune the league and its functioning. Our major areas include adding value to talent pool, improving competitiveness of the league, broadcasting standard, regionalization plans, and strengthening the fan base across the country.