A total of 29 players have been retained by their respective franchisees of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) under the 'Elite Retained Players' category, the organisers announced on Monday, 25 March.
The number of retained players for the upcoming season, starting 19 July, has increased from the previous season's 21.
The non-retained players will go under the hammer at the auctions, to be held on 8-9 April.
The Elite Player Retention cap has been increased from a maximum of four to six. "Franchises can retain up to six elite players from either category A, B or C, with a maximum of two each from Category A and B," a release said.
The League has also introduced a new category where a franchise can retain a New Young Player, once his two-year contract is completed under the “Retained Young Players” category.
These retained young players are over and above the existing cap of six "New Young players" that a franchise can have.
List of Pro Kabaddi League Players Retained
- Bengal Warriors: Baldev Singh, Maninder Singh
- Bengaluru Bulls: Rohit Kumar, Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, Ashish Kumar Sangwan
- Dabang Delhi KC: Meraj Sheykh, Joginder Narwal
- Gujarat Fortunegiants: Sachin, Sunil Kumar
- Haryana Steelers: Kuldeep Singh, Vikash Khandola
- Jaipur Pink Panthers: Deepak Niwas Hooda, Sandeep Kumar Dhull
- Patna Pirates: Pardeep Narwal, Vikas Jaglan, Tushar Patil, Jawahar
- Puneri Paltan: None
- Tamil Thalaivas: Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chhillar, Victor Onyango Obiero
- Telugu Titans: Armaan, Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari, Farhad Rahimi Milaghardan, Krushna Madane
- U Mumba: Fazel Atrachali, Rajaguru Subramanian, Arjun Deshwal
- UP Yoddha: Amit, Sachin Kumar
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