The excitement is building ahead of the 12th edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 2025), with the player auction now concluded and all 12 teams finalizing their squads. Held on May 31 and June 1 in Mumbai, the auction featured over 500 players and saw intense bidding for top stars like Pawan Sehrawat, Naveen Kumar, and Mohammadreza Shadloui.
Each franchise entered the auction with a salary purse of ₹5 crore and a mix of strategic retention and fresh picks. Teams retained players across three categories: Elite Retained Players (ERP), Retained Young Players (RYP), and Existing New Young Players (NYP). A total of 83 players were retained—25 as ERPs, 23 as RYPs, and 35 as NYPs.
1. Bengal Warriors
- Elite Retained Player: Vishwas S
- New Young Players: Yash Malik, Manjeet, Deep Kumar, Sushil Kambrekar
- Auction Picks: Devank Dalal (A), Nitesh Kumar (B), Ashish (C), Parteek (C), Omid Khojasteh (C), Jang Kun Lee (C), Mayur Kadam (C), Himanshu (C), Shivansh Thakur (C), Harander (D), Ankit (D), Sandeep (D), Moolchandra Singh (D)
2. Bengaluru Bulls
- New Young Players: Chandranaik M, Lucky Kumar, Manjeet, Pankaj
- Auction Picks: Ankush Rathee (A), Yogesh Dahiya (A), Sanjay Dhull (B), Dheeraj (C), Alireza Mirzaeian (C), Manish (C), Ahmadreza Asgari (C), Satyappa Matti (C), Akash Shinde (C), Mahipal (C), Sachin (D), Shubham Bitake (D), Amit Thakur (D), Shubham Rahate (D), Sahil Rane (D)
3. Dabang Delhi KC
- New Young Players: Sandeep, Mohit
- Auction Picks: Fazel Atrachali (A), Ashu Malik (A), Amir Bastami (B), Surjeet Singh (B), Saurabh Nandal (C), Naveen Kumar (C), Ashish Sangwan (C), Gaurav Chhillar (C), Akshit (C), Neeraj Narwal (C), Ajinkya Pawar (C), Arkam Shaikh (C), Mohit (C), Vijay (D), Anil Gurjar (D)
4. Gujarat Giants
- Elite Retained Player: Himanshu Singh, Himanshu
- Retained Young Players: Parteek Dahiya, Rakesh
- Auction Picks: Mohammadreza Shadloui (A), Shubham Kumar (C), Lucky Sharma (C), Nitin Panwar (C), Milad Jabbari (C), Rohit Kumar (C), Ajith Kumar (C), Visvanth V (C), Amit (D), Sumit (D), Himanshu Yadav (D), Ankit (D), K Harish (D)
5. Haryana Steelers
- Elite Retained Player: Rahul Sethpal, Vinay
- Retained Young Players: Shivam Patare, Jaideep, Jaya Soorya NS, Vishal Tate
- New Young Players: Sahil, Manikandan N, Vikas Jadhav
- Auction Picks: Naveen Kumar (B), Rahul (C), Ashish (C), Hardeep (C), Ghanshyam Magar (C), Shahan Sha (C), Zubair (D), Ritik (D), Sachin (D)
6. Jaipur Pink Panthers
- Elite Retained Player: Reza Mirbagheri
- RYPs & NYPs: Abhishek KS, Ronak Singh, Nitin Kumar, Sombir, Ritik Sharma
- Auction Picks: Manjeet Dahiya (B), Nitin Dhankhar (B), Nitin Rawal (C), Ali Samadi (C), Aashish Kumar (C), Meetu (C), Vinay (C), Mohit (C), Uday Parte (D)
7. Patna Pirates
- Elite Retained Player: Hamid Mirzaei, Thiyagarajan Yuvaraj
- RYPs & NYPs: Sudhakar M, Ayan, Navdeep, Deepak, Sahil Patil
- Auction Picks: Deepak Singh (A), Ankit Jaglan (B), Sanket Sawant (B), Maninder Singh (B), Amin Ghorbani (C), Balasaheb Jadhav (C), Sombir (C), Mandeep (D)
8. Puneri Paltan
- Elite Retained Player: Abinesh Nadarajan, Gaurav Khatri, Pankaj Mohite
- Retained Young Players: Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Dadaso Pujari, Aditya Shinde
- Auction Picks: Sachin Tanwar (B), Gurdeep (C), Amaan (C), Milad Mohajer (C), Nabibakhsh (C), Stuwart Singh (C), Vishal Bhardwaj (C), Rohan Tupare (D)
9. Tamil Thalaivas
- Elite Retained Player: Moein Shafaghi, Himanshu, Sagar
- RYPs & NYPs: Narender, Ronak, Nitesh Kumar, Vishal Chahal, Aashish, Anuj Gawade, Dhiraj Bailmare
- Auction Picks: Pawan Sehrawat (A), Arjun Deshwal (A), Alireza Khalili (C), Mohit (C), Suresh Jadhav (D)
10. Telugu Titans
- Elite Retained Player: Shankar Gadai, Ajit Pawar
- RYPs & NYPs: Ankit, Praful Zaware, Sagar, Chetan Sahu, Nitin, Rohit
- Auction Picks: Bharat Hooda (A), Vijay Malik (A), Shubham Shinde (A), Amir Ejlali (C), Ganesh Parki (C), Ashish Narwal (C), Manjeet (C), Jai Bhagwan (C), Aman (C), Rahul Dagar (D)
11. U Mumba
- Elite Retained Player: Sunil Kumar, Rohit, Amir Zafardanesh, Satish Kannan
- RYPs & NYPs: Mukilan Shanmugam, Ajit Chouhan, Deepak Kundu, Lokesh Ghosliya, Sunny
- Auction Picks: Rinku Sharma (B), Parvesh Bhainswal (C), Ravi (C), Mohammad Ghorbani (C), Sandeep Kumar (C), Aanil Mohan (D), Amarjeet (D)
12. UP Yoddhas
- Elite Retained Player: Sumit, Bhavani Rajput, Sahul Kumar, Surender Gill, Ashu Singh
- RYPs & NYPs: Hitesh, Gagana Gowda, Shivam Chaudhary, Jayesh Mahajan, Gangaram, Sachin, Keshav Kumar
- Auction Picks: Mahender Singh (B), Guman Singh (B), Mohammadreza Kaboudrahangi (C), Dong Geon Lee (C), Pranay Rane (C), Ronak (D)
Final Thoughts
PKL Season 12 promises to be a high-octane season with a rich blend of rising talents and legendary names. With every franchise bolstering its squad strategically, fans can look forward to another thrilling season of kabaddi action beginning later this year.
Written by RITESH SINGH
