Pro Kabaddi League 10: Top 5 PKL Players who went on to become Successful Coaches

PKL 10: 5 PKL players who turned coaches

Pro Kabaddi League have provided opportunities for several players to showcase their talents. The league revolutionalized the sport in the country. Apart from players, coaches have also benefitted through the tournament. Therefore, several players who have featured in the tournament as players came back to the league as coaches. Many of them have tasted success as well.

Here are the top five coaches who have featured in the PKL as a player in the past.

Gurpreet Singh

Gurpreet Singh is certainly a big name amongst the coaches, but not many will remember that he featured in the first few seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League. The defender went on to represent Bengaluru Bulls and Puneri Paltan in his early days. Gurpreet Singh used to serve as a right corner defender and is known for his timely blocks, which had helped his team to win several times. Notably, he scored 24 tackle points in the debut season for the Bengaluru Bulls.

Gurpreet Singh is from Punjab and has represented the Punjab Police Kabaddi team right from a young age. He also went on to represent the Indian team at the highest levels and also in the nationals. Gurpreet Singh was also a part of the Indian winning side at the 2010, and 2014 Asia Games.

The defender was drafted in as the assistant coach in the Pro Kabaddi League's 7th edition.

Manjeet Chhillar

Manjeet Chillar needs no introduction. The Indian legend was the star in the first few seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League. The all-rounder won the best defender in the inaugural season and was named the Most Valuable Player in the following edition. Manjeet Chhillar is certainly one of the unforgettable names in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League. However, not many will remember that he did take up coaching after retirement. The all-rounder was even named as the assistant coach for Telugu Titans.

Jagdish Kumble

Jagdish Kumble is one of the coaches who has been a part of multiple franchises. Kumble was signed as the head coach for the Bengal Warriors in the 5th and 6th editions of the league. The team went on to make it to the playoffs in both editions. He then moved to Telugu Titans, where he was signed as the assistant coach in season 7.

Notably, Jagdish Kumar was a part of the Jaipur Pink Panthers that lifted the trophy in the season one. He went on to play a couple of games for them in the third season.

The Kerala-born raider has represented India as well.

Rakesh Kumar

Rakesh Kumar was the most expensive player in the first edition where he represented Patna Pirates.

Rakesh scored 186 raid points and 74 tackle points while representing the Patna Pirates, U Mumba, and Telugu Titans.

However, his PKL career is not success as his international career. The Indian all-rounder played a vital role in the team that won the Kabaddi World Cup in 2004 and 2007, and Asia Games Gold in 2006, 2010 and 2014.

When he retired, he was signed by Haryana Steelers as the head coach.

Anup Kumar

Anup Kumar is one of the legends of Indian Kabaddi. He was a part of the team that won gold Medals in the Asia Games. He won the Pro Kabaddi League title with U Mumba in the 2nd Season. Most importantly, he led the Indian team to their third World Cup victory in 2016.

Nicknamed captain cool, Anup went on to captain U Mumba for the first five editions before moving to Jaipur Pink Panthers in the sixth and final season. He ended his PKL career with more than 500 raid points. Anup joined the Puneri Paltan team as the head coach for PKL 7. While the team didn't make it to the playoffs, his transition from captain to coach will always be remembered.