IPKL inaugural season to begin in Pune on May 13

Pune  :  The Indo International Premier Kabaddi League (IPKL), a brand new kabaddi league promoted by the New Kabaddi Federation (NKF), on Saturday announced the schedule for the inaugural season, starting at the Balewadi Stadium here on May 13.

The openeing Pune Leg will be played till May 21, the Mysore leg between May 24 and 29, and the final leg in Bengaluru between June 1-4. The matches will be broadcasted between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on days of two matches, and between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the days when there are three matches.

The season opener will be played between Haryana Heroes and Pune Pride. The opening contest will feature the likes of Jitendra Yadav, who has been a part of the national kabaddi team and was also selected for the world cup kabaddi team; and V Vimal Raj, who after representing Tamil Thalaivas will step on the mat now for the Pune Pride. Many other big names, including Sunil Jaypal, Shashank Wankhede, Parveen Kumar, the 2014 Asian Games gold medallist Vipin Malik and Arumugam, will also be seen in action during the league.

DD Sports has joined hands with IPKL as one of the broadcasters besides DSPORT (English), MTV and MTV HD+ (Hindi) as official broadcasters.

The winning team will gather the cheque of Rs 1.25 crore, the runners-up Rs 75 lakhs, the third placed team Rs 50 lakh and the fourth team Rs 25 lakh. 

The inaugural season will witness 44 matches between eight franchisees -- Bangalore Rhinos, Chennai Challengers, Diler Delhi, Telugu Bulls, Pune Pride, Haryana Heroes, Mumbai Che Raje and Pondicherry Predators. 

Players have been selected after rigorous selection trials, conducted across the country over four months. Each team will comprise five raiders, seven defenders and three all-rounders.