In the summer of 2014, very few people expected a professional kabaddi league to last. Kabaddi was a sport most Indians had played in school or seen at village fairs, not something you watched on prime-time television. Then U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers walked onto the mat in Mumbai for the first match of the Pro Kabaddi League, and Indian sport changed.
Twelve seasons later, PKL is one of the country’s most-watched sports properties outside cricket, and fans are counting down to Season 13. The auction is reported for October 18-25, 2026, and the upcoming PKL schedule is expected to start in late December, with the final in February 2027. It is a good moment to look back at how far the league has come.
This article tells that story through the things that changed: the number of teams, the length of the season, the calendar, the points system, the playoff format and the money. Along the way, we look at every champion, the dynasty that still holds the league’s biggest record and what all of this history tells us about the season ahead.
No history of PKL can start anywhere other than Patna Pirates. They remain the only franchise to defend a PKL title, and their three straight championships between 2016 and 2017 are still the benchmark every champion is measured against. But to understand why that record has stood for so long, we need to go back to the beginning.
2014: The Beginning
The Pro Kabaddi League was launched by Mashal Sports, founded by businessman Anand Mahindra and sports broadcaster Charu Sharma, and it runs under the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI). The idea was simple but bold: take India’s traditional contact sport, adapt it for television with a compact court, fast matches and modern presentation, and build city-based franchises around it.
Season 1 had eight teams and modest budgets. Each franchise had a total salary purse of just INR 60 lakh, and the most expensive player cost INR 12.8 lakh. Jaipur Pink Panthers won the first title, beating U Mumba 35-24 in the final, and the league had its first champion.
Every PKL Champion, Season by Season
Here is the full list of PKL finals from Season 1 to Season 12:
| Season | Year | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
| 1 | 2014 | Jaipur Pink Panthers | U Mumba | 35-24 |
| 2 | 2015 | U Mumba | Bengaluru Bulls | 36-30 |
| 3 | 2016 | Patna Pirates | U Mumba | 31-28 |
| 4 | 2016 | Patna Pirates | Jaipur Pink Panthers | 37-29 |
| 5 | 2017 | Patna Pirates | Gujarat Fortune Giants | 55-38 |
| 6 | 2018-19 | Bengaluru Bulls | Gujarat Fortune Giants | 38-33 |
| 7 | 2019 | Bengal Warriors | Dabang Delhi K.C. | 39-34 |
| 8 | 2021-22 | Dabang Delhi K.C. | Patna Pirates | 37-36 |
| 9 | 2022 | Jaipur Pink Panthers | Puneri Paltan | 33-29 |
| 10 | 2023-24 | Puneri Paltan | Haryana Steelers | 28-25 |
| 11 | 2024 | Haryana Steelers | Patna Pirates | 32-23 |
| 12 | 2025 | Dabang Delhi K.C. | Puneri Paltan | 31-28 |
Eight different franchises have won the title in twelve seasons, which says a lot about how competitive the league is. Patna Pirates lead with three titles, Dabang Delhi K.C. and Jaipur Pink Panthers have two each, and U Mumba, Bengaluru Bulls, Bengal Warriors (now Bengal Warriorz), Puneri Paltan and Haryana Steelers have one apiece.
The Patna Dynasty: Three in a Row
Between Season 3 and Season 5, Patna Pirates did something no team has managed since. They won Season 3 in 2016 by beating U Mumba 31-28, defended it later that same year against Jaipur Pink Panthers, and completed the hat-trick in 2017 with a 55-38 win over Gujarat Fortune Giants, still one of the most one-sided finals in league history.
That era also produced the league’s greatest raider. Pardeep Narwal became the face of Patna’s success and went on to finish his career as PKL’s all-time top raider with 1,801 raid points from 190 matches. In the 2017 playoffs, he scored eight points in a single raid against Haryana Steelers, a record that still stands.
Since Patna’s third title, every champion has failed to defend its crown. Haryana Steelers, the Season 11 winners, could not get past the Play-ins in Season 12. That is the challenge facing Dabang Delhi K.C. in Season 13.
2017: Expansion to 12 Teams
Season 5 in 2017 was the league’s biggest structural change in its early years. Four new franchises joined, taking the league from eight teams to twelve: Gujarat Fortune Giants (now Gujarat Giants), Haryana Steelers, Tamil Thalaivas and UP Yoddhas. The extra teams meant a much longer season with far more matches, and they brought kabaddi to new regions and new fan bases.
The expansion also created rivalries that still define the league, and it gave the PKL schedule the 12-team shape that fans know today. Two of the four newcomers have since reached finals: Gujarat twice and Haryana twice, with Haryana winning it all in Season 11.
How the PKL Calendar Has Moved Around
One reason fans get confused about which season is which is that the PKL calendar has never been fixed. In the early years, the league even held two seasons in 2016. Later seasons sometimes crossed from one year into the next, and in 2020 there was no season at all because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Season 8, played in 2021-22, was staged in Bengaluru without fans in the stands.
| Season | When it was played | Note |
| 3 and 4 | Both in 2016 | Two seasons in one year |
| 6 | 2018-19 | Crossed into the new year |
| 7 | 2019 | Last season before the pandemic |
| 8 | 2021-22 | Played without crowds |
| 10 | 2023-24 | Crossed into the new year |
| 11 | October to December 2024 | Haryana’s first title |
| 12 | August to October 2025 | First season under the new format |
| 13 | Expected December 2026 to February 2027 | Delayed by the Asian Games |
Season 13 continues that pattern. Because national-team duty at the Asian Games (September 19 to October 4, 2026) and the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship came first, the auction moved to October and the season to the end of the year. That is why fans search for both “PKL 2026” and “PKL 2026-27”: they are the same season.
The Caravan Format and the Cities of PKL
From the start, PKL has used a caravan format rather than true home-and-away fixtures. All teams travel together to one host city, play there for a few weeks and then move on. It keeps travel and production manageable while letting fans in different parts of India see live kabaddi.
Season 12 used four legs: Vishwanadh Sports Club in Vizag, SMS Indoor Stadium in Jaipur, SDAT Multipurpose Indoor Stadium in Chennai and Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in Delhi, where Dabang Delhi K.C. won the final in front of their home crowd. Season 13 host cities have not been announced, but a similar multi-city model is expected.
2025: The Biggest Format Change in PKL History
For eleven seasons, the points system barely changed: 5 points for a win, 3 for a tie and 1 for a loss by 7 points or fewer. The league stage kept growing too, reaching 22 matches per team and 132 in total by Season 11.
Season 12 changed almost everything at once:
- Simpler points: 2 for a win, 0 for a loss.
- No more draws: level matches go to a five-raid tie-breaker, then a Golden Raid if needed.
- Shorter league: 18 matches per team instead of 22, 108 in total.
- Bigger playoffs: eight teams instead of six, with new Play-ins and a Mini-Qualifier.
The new format immediately produced memorable moments. Patna Pirates went from seventh place to Eliminator 3, a run that would have been impossible under the old system. Dabang Delhi K.C. beat Puneri Paltan in a tie-breaker in Qualifier 1 and then beat them again, 31-28, in the final. Season 13 is expected to keep these changes.
The Money: From 60 Lakh to 5 Crore
Nothing shows PKL’s growth more clearly than the auction. In Season 1, a whole squad cost INR 60 lakh. By Season 12, each team had a purse of INR 5 crore, roughly eight times more, and individual players were selling for more than three times what an entire Season 1 team cost.
| Measure | Season 1 (2014) | Season 12 (2025) |
| Purse per team | INR 60 lakh | INR 5 crore |
| Most expensive player | INR 12.8 lakh | INR 2.23 crore (Shadloui) |
| Players above 1 crore | None | 10 |
| Total auction spend | – | INR 37.90 crore |
Season 12 also showed that money is not everything. The two most expensive players, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh and Devank Dalal, played for teams that finished 11th and 12th. Dabang Delhi K.C. won the title after signing Fazel Atrachali for his base price of INR 30 lakh, and Fazel was named the season’s Most Valuable Player.
The Players Who Defined Each Era
A league is remembered through its players as much as its champions. Every phase of PKL history has had names that fans still talk about.
| Era | Defining names | Why they mattered |
| Early years (2014-2016) | Anup Kumar, Rahul Chaudhari | Made kabaddi stars household names; Rahul was the first player to reach 500, 700 and 800 raid points |
| Patna dynasty (2016-2017) | Pardeep Narwal | Led three straight titles and finished as the all-time top raider with 1,801 raid points |
| Expansion era (2017-2019) | Pawan Sehrawat, Maninder Singh | High-scoring raiders who carried new and old franchises alike |
| Modern era (2021-2025) | Fazel Atrachali, Ashu Malik, Arjun Deshwal | Fazel became the benchmark for defenders; Ashu and Arjun led a new generation of raiders |
| Season 12 (2025) | Ayan Lohchab, Fazel Atrachali | Ayan was Raider of the Season with 316 raid points; Fazel was MVP |
The overseas story is just as important. Iran became the league’s biggest source of foreign talent, especially defenders. Fazel Atrachali and Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh are as well known to Indian fans as most domestic stars, and every squad must now include two to four overseas players.
The changing of the guard was clear at the Season 12 auction. Pardeep Narwal, the greatest raider the league has produced, went unsold and retired before the season began. Teams now prefer younger, fitter raiders, and Season 13 is likely to continue that shift.
How the PKL Schedule Is Built Today
Behind every season is a long planning process. Before the official PKL schedule can be published, the organisers need to lock in the auction date, confirm host cities and stadium availability, agree broadcast slots and decide the league format and playoff dates. That is why fixtures usually arrive only after squads are final.
Over the years, that process has produced some familiar patterns: double-headers on most matchdays, “Triple Panga” nights with three back-to-back games, and a final leg that often doubles as the playoff venue. Fans following from outside India have also grown in number, and match times set in Indian Standard Time now matter to viewers in Pakistan, the Gulf, the UK and North America.
What PKL History Tells Us About Season 13
Twelve seasons of history suggest a few things worth remembering as Season 13 approaches:
- Defending a title is extremely hard. Only Patna have done it. Dabang Delhi K.C. start as champions, but history is against them.
- The league is unpredictable. Eight different champions in twelve seasons means almost any team can win in the right year.
- Squad balance beats star power. Season 12 proved it again, and the new tie-breaker rule makes raiding depth even more valuable.
- Calendars move. Do not trust any full fixture list until Mashal Sports releases the official schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Pro Kabaddi League start?
PKL started in 2014. Jaipur Pink Panthers won the first season, beating U Mumba 35-24 in the final.
Which team has won the most PKL titles?
Patna Pirates, with three titles in Seasons 3, 4 and 5. They are the only team to have defended a PKL title.
When does the PKL schedule for Season 13 start?
Season 13 is expected to start in late December 2026, with the final in February 2027. The official schedule has not been released.
Why was there no PKL season in 2020?
The COVID-19 pandemic stopped the league in 2020. It returned with Season 8 in 2021-22, played in Bengaluru without crowds.
How many teams are in PKL?
Twelve. The league started with eight teams in 2014 and expanded to twelve in Season 5 in 2017.
Twelve Seasons Down, the Next Chapter Ahead
PKL began as an experiment with eight teams and INR 60 lakh purses. Today it is a 12-team league with crore-plus signings, a modern format and fans across India and beyond. Along the way, it gave us Patna’s dynasty, Pardeep Narwal’s records, Haryana’s first title and Delhi’s home-crowd triumph in 2025.
Season 13 will add the next chapter. When the official PKL schedule is announced and the first raid is made, it will be the latest step in one of the most remarkable stories in modern Indian sport.
