Mumbai, March 25, 2019: India’s most sought-after kabaddi league VIVO Pro Kabaddi, readies itself for yet another action-packed season with the announcement of the ‘Elite Player Retentions’. The retained Elite players will continue their association with their respective franchises for VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season VII starting 19 July 2019. A total of 29 players were retained in the Elite Retained Players category as teams begin drafting their squads for season VII. The number of Elite Retained Players for the upcoming season has increased from the previous season’s number of 21. The non-retained players will go under the hammer at the auctions to be held on the 8th and 9th of April 2019. 

• VIVO Pro Kabaddi League auctions for season VII to be held on 8th and 9th of April, 2019 
• A total of 29 Elite Players Retained for VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season VII
• Retained New Young Players list to be revealed soon
• For the second time in a row, Tamil Thalaivas has retained Padma Shri Ajay Thakur and Pardeep Narwal will continue with 3 time champions Patna Pirates for the fifth consecutive season.
• Rohit Kumar and sensation Pawan Kumar Sehrawat continue with Season VI champions Bengaluru Bulls
• Iranians players like Fazel Atrachali (U Mumba), Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari (Telugu Titans), Meraj Sheykh (Dabang Delhi K.C) and Farhad Rahimi Milaghardan (Telugu Titans) have been retained by their respective teams 

The Player Retention Policy for VIVO PKL Season VII has been strengthened in line with the objective of building squad continuity and stability. The Elite Player Retention cap has been increased from a maximum of 4 to a maximum of 6. Franchises can retain up to 6 Elite Players from either category A, B or C, with a maximum of two each from Category A and B. 

Following the objective of building continuity, the League introduced a new category where a franchise can retain a New Young Players once his 2-year contract is completed under the “Retained Young Players” category. These Retained Young players are over and above the existing cap of 6 New Young players that a franchise can have. This works in favour of young kabaddi players who have proved their mettle and can continue playing with their respective teams and allows the franchises to build continuity of young talent. The Retained Young Players list would be revealed soon. 

Anupam Goswami, League Commissioner, VIVO Pro Kabaddi said, “The League is cognizant of the significance of squad continuity and long-term association of players with their respective teams towards creating strong hooks and bonds for fans as well as sponsors.  With this realisation, VIVO Pro Kabaddi League has consistently strengthened its Player Retention Policy to facilitate and augment squad continuity, to benefit players as well as their teams.”

This time, the pool of talent retained by the teams is a mixture of young and experienced players. Team Tamil Thalaivas have retained Padma Shri Ajay Thakur for the second time in a row, along with Manjeet Chhillar. Experienced players like Rohit Kumar (Bengaluru Bulls), Fazel Atrachali (U Mumba), Pardeep Narwal (Patna Pirates), Deepak Hooda (Jaipur Pink Panthers), Joginder Narwal (Dabang Delhi K.C) and Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors) have been retained by their respective teams to bring forth their skills and game play in crucial times. But players like Pawan Sehrawat (Bengaluru Bulls), Vikash Khandola (Haryana Steelers), Sachin (Gujarat Fortunegiants), Sandeep Dhull (Jaipur Pink Panthers) are all young players on the block who have showed their mettle and have been retained by their teams.

About Mashal Sports:
Mashal Sports is the rights owner and organizer of VIVO Pro Kabaddi League. VIVO Pro Kabaddi was launched in 2014 and is already among the foremost sports leagues in the country; for participant teams, tenure of tournament, television viewership, and passionate fans among men, women, and children from all parts of our country.

Through VIVO Pro Kabaddi, as well as other significant initiatives, Mashal has achieved path-breaking success in reinvigorating Kabaddi to a modern world class sport from India.