When VIVO Pro Kabaddi entered the Indian sports terrain in 2014, there were many who were a little skeptical at first. However within months, the ambitious league made India fall back in love with the indigenous sport of kabaddi, turning homegrown heroes into superstars overnight. The viewership has been on the up ever since, and continuing with the trend, Season 5 has also recorded tremendous growth in viewership besides setting social media ablaze with activity.

Fans are logging into the official social media pages round the clock. At present, the league caters to more than a million fans on Facebook and almost 40 thousand on Twitter and Instagram each, with hundreds of new fans jumping on the kabaddi bandwagon everyday. Here’s a look at the team and players who have got the highest mentions on social media in Week Two of the ongoing fifth season.

Top Teams:

Home team Bengaluru Bulls lead the social media charts* after the Nagpur leg, toppling Telugu Titans who were in the lead after the Hyderabad leg. This can be attributed to the fact that the home team is in action every matchday and consequently engages more fans. The decrease in Telugu Titans’ traction, as they slipped to ninth, can be attributed to the fact that they entered Week 2 after 5 consecutive losses from their home leg, which probably hindered their overall fan engagement.

Bengal Warriors started their campaign in a glorious fashion before a loss in their last match, and rightfully hog the limelight behind the Bulls. One of the four entrants this season, Tamil Thalaivas have one of the most passionate fan bases in the country and even though the team started the season disappointingly, the mentions have been pouring in for them, and they are ahead of double defending champions Patna Pirates and U Mumba. Gujarat Fortunegiants, however, lie at the bottom of the table but their fortunes are sure to change as they now have entered their home leg of the season.

Top Players:

Bengaluru Bulls may not have had a good season yet but their captain Rohit Kumar has shown no signs of stopping. His consistent performances have led to his topping the mentions table in Week 2, above Patna Pirates sensation Pardeep Narwal, whose team is unbeaten so far in the league after a jaw-dropping tie against U.P. Yoddha in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

‘Captain Cool’ Anup Kumar, who led the standings after the first week, has now dropped to third, with Tamil Thalaivas captain Ajay Thakur sitting steady at fourth. Titans’ Rahul Chaudhari, top scorer in the history of the league, surprisingly does not feature in the second week’s top-8 after featuring second in the first week.

Stay glued to our social media handles to keep abreast of all the happenings in the fifth season of VIVO Pro Kabaddi.

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*Based on social media mentions covered in the week