Pro Kabaddi champions: A look at the league’s roll of honour

The inaugural Pro Kabaddi season in 2014 saw eight teams participating in the league. By Season 5, the number of teams competing grew to 12.

In the 10 seasons so far, there have been seven Pro Kabaddi winners. This is how they became champions.

PKL Season 10 winner: Puneri Paltan

Puneri Paltan won their first Pro Kabaddi title after beating Haryana Steelers 28-25 in the Season 10 Final. Gaurav Khatri's 4 tackle points and a combined effort from Mohit Goyat and Pankaj Mohite in offence with 5 and 9 raid points respectively helped them clinch their first-ever PKL title.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of Season 10, Aslam Inamdar, led his team by example and guided them to their maiden PKL trophy. Meanwhile, Puneri Paltan’s Mohammadreza Chiyaneh scored the most tackle points in the season with 99 tackle points. Dabang Delhi K.C.'s Ashu Malik was adjudged the Best Raider of the Season with 276 raid points. Yogesh from Dabang Delhi K.C., on the other hand, bagged the New Young Player of the Season award after scoring 74 tackle points.

The 10th edition of PKL marked the return of the 12-city caravan format as all 12 franchises hosted matches in their home stadiums for the first time since the pandemic. The final took place at Hyderabad and saw Puneri Paltan lift their maiden title.

PKL Season 9 winner: Jaipur Pink Panthers

Jaipur Pink Panthers won their second Pro Kabaddi title, edging past Puneri Paltan 33-29 in the Season 9 Final. Skipper Sunil Kumar's High 5 and a collective effort from Arjun Deshwal and Ajith Kumar in the offence with six raid points each helped the inaugural champions claim glory once again in the ninth edition.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of Season 9, Arjun Deshwal, topped the raiding charts with 296 raid points. On the other hand, Jaipur Pink Panthers found a star defender in Ankush, who made the most tackle points by any debutant (89) in PKL history. Bengaluru Bulls' Bharat was adjudged the Best Raider of the Season with 279 raid points.

The ninth edition of PKL marked the return of the fans back to the stadium as Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad hosted the league stage, while Mumbai was the venue for the Playoffs.

PKL Season 8 winner: Dabang Delhi K.C.

Dabang Delhi K.C. clinched their maiden PKL trophy in Season 8 as they beat Patna Pirates 37-36 to become the sixth team in the league's history to win the title. The 2-time MVP, Naveen Kumar and sensational all-rounder Vijay scored Super 10s each in the final as they took on Patna Pirates' defence led by Mohammadreza Chiyaneh.

Naveen Kumar scored 207 raid points in 17 matches, becoming the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for a second consecutive year. Veteran all-rounder Manjeet Chhillar ended his campaign as the most successful defender for the side with 52 tackle points.

The Season 8 final saw the closest margin of a win in a PKL final where Dabang Delhi K.C. emerged as champions, beating the three-time champions by just 1 point.

PKL Season 7 winner: Bengal Warriors

A collective effort from the Bengal Warriors saw them becoming PKL champions for the first time in Season 7.

The final of PKL Season 7 was played between two of the top teams during the season, Dabang Delhi K.C. and Bengal Warriors. Captain and lead raider (205 points) Maninder Singh was sidelined from the final due to an injury. 

Despite facing Naveen Kumar, who was the MVP of the season, Bengal Warriors never looked out of the game. Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh shouldered the responsibility of the team and delivered a match-winning Super 10 in the Final as Bengal Warriors beat Dabang Delhi K.C. 39-34 in the final.

PKL Season 6 winner: Bengaluru Bulls

Led by captain Rohit Kumar, Bengaluru Bulls won the PKL title in Season 6 with Pawan Sehrawat, named MVP, emerging as the find of the tournament with 282 points.

It was a close battle between Bengaluru Bulls and Gujarat Fortunegiants in the final. In the end, it was Pawan Sehrawat's magnificent performance that took the game away. Pawan scored 22 points as the Bengaluru Bulls defeated Gujarat Giants 38-33 to lift their maiden PKL title.

PKL Season 5 winner: Patna Pirates

Four new teams were added to Pro Kabaddi in Season 5 but Patna Pirates went on to win a hat-trick of titles. Patna Pirates captain Pardeep Narwal broke multiple records in the campaign and produced the iconic 8-point raid against Haryana Steelers.

Patna Pirates went on to score 1,050 points in PKL Season 5, which is the highest number of points scored by a team in a single season.

It was a one-sided affair in the Pro Kabaddi Season 5 final as Patna Pirates beat Gujarat Giants 55-38. Pardeep Narwal won the title of the season's MVP on the back of some incredible stats: most raid points (369), most super raids (18) and most super 10s (19).

PKL Season 4 winner: Patna Pirates

Pardeep Narwal led Patna Pirates to another title in PKL Season 4 despite the departure of Rohit Kumar to Bengaluru Bulls.

Patna Pirates finished the league at the top of the table with 10 wins in 14 matches. Pardeep Narwal led the raids with 133 points while Iranian ace Fazel Atrachali led Patna's defence with 45 tackle points.

Patna Pirates met Jaipur Pink Panthers in the final. Pardeep Narwal bagged 16 points in the match to give Patna Pirates their second PKL championship on the trot with a 37-29 scoreline. Thus, Patna Pirates became the first team to win the PKL title twice.

PKL Season 3 winner: Patna Pirates

Patna Pirates won their first Pro Kabaddi title in PKL Season 3. After a short-lived campaign with Bengaluru Bulls in Season 2, Patna Pirates' Pardeep Narwal rose to the occasion with the most raid points (116) under his belt in Season 3.

Patna Pirates’ Rohit Kumar was named MVP while Sandeep Narwal bagged second-most tackle points (53) in the season.

Patna Pirates defeated the then reigning champions U Mumba 31-28 to win their maiden PKL title with Rohit Kumar scoring 7 points in the final.

PKL Season 2 winner: U Mumba

The runners-up of the inaugural PKL season, U Mumba, dominated the league in the second season with a stronger defensive unit.

In 14 league matches, U Mumba emerged victorious in 12 outings. At the end of the season, they had the most tackle points (196) and the best average tackles points per match (12.25).

U Mumba took on the Bengaluru Bulls in the Season 2 finale. The match was poised for a close finish in the second half when Shabeer Bappu's Super Raid sealed the deal for U Mumba in the dying minutes as they won 36-30. 

PKL Season 1 winner: Jaipur Pink Panthers

The first Pro Kabaddi title was won by the Jaipur Pink Panthers in 2014. Despite losing the inaugural match of PKL, Jaipur Pink Panthers won 10 of their 14 league games to emerge as the most consistent side of PKL Season 1.

Their lead raider, Maninder Singh, had a splendid season scoring 137 points and was third overall finishing only behind U Mumba’s Anup Kumar (169) and Telugu Titans’ Rahul Chaudhari (161) in the points tally.

Maninder also scored a Super 10 in the final against U Mumba, leading Jaipur Pink Panthers to the first-ever PKL title, beating U Mumba 35-24.