The Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 (PKL 12) is set to kick-start on 29 August and the stage is all set for the upcoming edition.
Here are the team captains for PKL 12:
Patna Pirates: Ankit Jaglan
Ankit Jaglan is set to lead Patna Pirates once again. The franchise reposed faith in him after he led the team to the PKL 11 final. The franchise has once again shown faith in the defender. This time star raider, Devank Dalal will be missing, on his side, which will be a challenge for him.
Captain Ankit Jaglan will be featuring for Patna Pirates for the third straight season. He is the highest-paid all-rounder and has proven his worth with his speed and agility, including a high tackle percentage rate last season.
Tamil Thalaivas: Pawan Sehrawat
Pawan Sehrawat was acquired by Tamil Thalaivas in the PKL 12 auction and has been given the charge of the team. Sehrawat is one of the most celebrated high-flyers of PKL.
The Haryana lad began his captaincy journey with the Bengaluru Bulls in PKL 7. He led the franchise for a couple of seasons before moving to Tamil Thalaivas.
The raider was the captain of the Telugu Titans for the last two PKL seasons. He led the Titans throughout PKL Season 10 and for half a season in the previous edition of the league. As a player, Pawan earned 134 points in 13 matches in the 11th edition of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Telugu Titans: Vijay Malik
Vijay Malik shone in the previous PKL season and turned out to be a crucial asset when the team needed him the most. He captained the side in PKL 11, in the absence of Pawan Sehrawat, and impressed everyone with his leadership qualities. In the upcoming season, he has been named the full-time captain of the Titans.
Malik led the team spectacularly in season 11, and the franchise will expect nothing less this time. The Telugu Titans had one of the best all-time finishes in PKL 11, and Malik deserves credit for that.
In PKL 12, the Titans have refined their previous mistakes and have gathered a brilliant squad. Bharat Hooda, Shubham Shinde, Aman, and Jai Bhagwan are some of the best buys for them. They have picked up the assets for clinching the title; it will be interesting to see how Malik uses his troops this time around.
UP Yoddhas: Sumit Sangwan
Yodhas have retained their old captain who led them in most of PKL 11 even as they turned out to be one of the most successful teams in the previous season. The franchise had also retained most of its core players from the last season.
Sumit Sangwan was named the captain of UP Yodhas for PKL 12, while Ashu Singh, was appointed as the vice-captain.
Sumit Sangwan plays at the left corner, which is one of the crucial positions as far as defence is concerned. Sangwan has been an integral part of the Yoddhas since the beginning of his PKL career and has achieved great results.
U Mumba: Sunil Kumar
Sunil Kumar is set to lead U Mumba once again. In the previous season, he guided the franchise to 12 wins, nine losses, and a couple of ties in 23 encounters.
Sunil Kumar is the most successful captain in PKL history with 77 wins across six editions. He was first named as the captain of Gujarat Giants in PKL Season 6 and led the franchise through three seasons before switching to Jaipur Pink Panthers. He led the Panthers to their second PKL title in Season 9 and a semi-final finish in Season 10.
Haryana Steelers: Jaideep Dahiya
Holders Haryana Steelers will go into title defense with Jaideep Dahiya as their captain for the upcoming season. The franchise have also named Rahul Sethpal as the vice-captain for the 12th edition of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Under the leadership of Jaideep Dahiya, Haryana Steelers won their maiden PKL title in the previous edition. Jaideep has been part of the Haryana Steelers squad since making his PKL debut in 2021. Playing left cover, he has played four seasons with the Haryana-based franchise and ended the previous season with 39 points in 21 matches.
Also Read: PKL 12 Format Undergoes Major Changes: See What’s New
Gujarat Giants: Mohammadreza Shadloui
Mohammadreza Shadloui of Iran will lead the Giants in the upcoming season, becoming one of the foreign players to become the captain.
Iranian powerhouse Mohammadreza Shadloui was acquired at Rs 2.23 crore, the highest bid of PKL Season 12. The star all-rounder is a two-time PKL champion, reigning MVP and multiple-time Best Defender.
Dabang Delhi: Ashu Malik
Dabang Delhi retained Ashu Malik for two seasons for Rs 1.90 crore using the final bid match option. The 23-year-old will become the seventh player to lead Dabang Delhi full-time.
The young raider, who led the team last year, has been in charge of Delhi’s attack, finishing Season 11 as the league’s top scorer with the most raid points.
Ashu Malik made his PKL debut for Delhi in Season 8, playing a crucial role in the team’s title win. He was retained for the next season, where he scored 158 points, almost 100 points more than in his previous season.
