New Delhi: Eight city-based franchises will be vying for top honours when recently-formed New Kabaddi Federation of India (NKFI)’s inaugural Indo International Premier Kabaddi League begins from 13 May.
International Premier Kabaddi League (IPKL) is a brand new sporting league which for the first time ever in India, will also share a part of its revenue with players, besides their assured salaries and prize money.
With star cricketer Virender Sehwag backing the project, there will be 144 Indian and 16 foreign players fighting it out for the eight teams – Bangalore Rhinos, Chennai Challengers, Diler Delhi, Telegu Bulls, Pune Pride, Haryana Heroes, Mumbai Che Raje and Rajasthan Rajputs.
All players will get a share of 20 per cent of the revenue. The IPKL will run from 13 May to 4 June across three venues in Pune, Mysore and Bengaluru. There will be a total of 44 matches in season one,
Former Indian cricket great Virender Sehwag was also there to unveil the logo and showed his support for the game At a glittering ceremony in Delhi, the dashing former opening batsman said, “It pained the whole nation including myself to see India lose their golden stranglehold in the Kabaddi competition at the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games. Kabaddi is a pride of the country including many such indigenous sports which all of us at some point grew up playing. When the organizers of IPKL came to me, I felt their ideas and passion would certainly help us regain our place at the pedestal of Asian and world Kabaddi.”
The only issue is that NKFI is not recognised by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) but they have applied for affiliation with the parent body. As long as they don’t get affiliation, players in this league won’t get to represent India. The league will be broadcast on DSPORT (English) MTV & MTV HD+ (Hindi) DDSport ( Hindi) as well as several regional networks .
The opening phase of the IPKL will feature 20 matches and will be played at Pune’s Balewadi stadium between 13 and 21 May while 17 games of the second phase will take place in Mysore’s Chamundai Vihar stadium from 24 to 29 May. The final phase in Bengaluru beginning 1 June will have seven games, with the grand finale scheduled at the Kanteerava stadium on 4 June.