IPL equivalents of Pro Kabaddi teams

The Pro Kabaddi League, which had its inaugural season in 2014 with eight teams, has now grown to an event involving 12 teams. It has completely changed the Kabaddi landscape in India, like the effect of IPL on cricket. Here are some similarities between the IPL and Kabaddi teams:

1) Jaipur Pink Panthers, and Rajasthan Royals: The Royals and Panthers both won the inaugural edition of the IPL and the PKL respectively, but neither have won it again. They have also qualified to the finals twice.

2) U Mumba, and Chennai Super Kings:Both of these teams qualified to the finals of the inaugural season, and lost to a team from Rajasthan, and are known to have “Captain Cool”, MS Dhoni and Anup Kumar. Both team captains also preferred to not make too many changes in their teams.

3) PuneriPaltans, and Punjab Kings: Both the PuneriPaltans and Punjab Kings have taken part in all editions of the IPL and PKL, but are yet to win the title. They are also associated with star players and have ranked in the top 4 multiple times.

4) Bengaluru Bulls, and SunRisers Hyderabad: Both teams have won their respective league titles, and have lost in the finals, once. Also, Hyderabad’s main player David Warner exited in the 2022 auction, as did Pawan Sehrawat from Bengaluru.

5) Patna Pirates, and Mumbai Indians: Both teams are the top franchise at their leagues, with the Mumbai Indians having won the IPL title five times, and the Patna Pirates having won the Pro-Kabaddi title thrice.

6) UP Yoddhas and Royal Challengers Bangalore: Both teams have qualified to the final rounds but are yet to win their respective league titles. However, both teams boast of star players, with Virat Kohli being a member of the Royal Challengers squad, who is IPL’s highest scorer, and Pardeep Narwal, PKL’s highest scoring raider, being a member of the UP Yoddhas.

7) Tamil Thalaivas, and Pune Warriors: The Tamil Thalaivas have largely been unsuccessful at PKL, like the Pune Warriors team which has now been disbanded. Both the Warriors and the Thalaivas have ranked in the bottom two in every season that they participated in, while having star players such as Ajay Thakur and Yuvraj Singh.

8) Bengal Warriors, and Kolkata Knight Riders: Both franchises from Bengal failed to make a mark in the initial few seasons of the league but improved to claim the trophy later. Each team also has a star performer, Andre Russell and Maninder Singh, who were previously part of other squads.

9) Telugu Titans, and Delhi Daredevils: Both the Titans and Daredevils ranked amongst the top teams in the first few seasons but suffered a loss in form ever since. Neither team has ever qualified to the finals.