The Pro Kabaddi League is back as the ninth edition of the tournament is set to kickstart on October 7, 2022. The announcement of the same was made officially through social media. The season will be played until mid-December.
Season 9 of the tournament will be held across three cities in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune. PKL posted a tweet, making the announcement, “Mark your calendars 🚨#vivoProKabaddi Season 9️⃣ is here and we can't wait to welcome you back.”
This season will see a change from last year's format where the entire tournament was played in a bio-bubble in Bengaluru. The organisers also stated that this PKL season will allow fans in the stadiums as there is no bio-bubble this time around.
Speaking on the announcement of the ninth season of the Pro Ka b addi League, Anupam Goswami, Head - Sports Leagues, Mashal Sports and League Commissioner, Vivo Pro Kabaddi League said, "Mashal Sports started the journey of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League with a vision of taking the indigenous sport of kabaddi to the world of contemporary and upcoming generations of sports fans."
"We continue to achieve impressive success in this goal, as was proven earlier this year by Vivo PKL Season 8 which was conducted in a comprehensive bio-bubble. Now, we are even more enthusiastic about the upcoming Vivo PKL Season 9 as our fans will be back in stadiums across Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad to experience the pulsating action up-close of their favourite teams and stars", he continued.
The announcement comes 20 days after the PKL season nine player auctions were held in Mumbai. It was the biggest auction in the tournament's history as Pawan Kumar Sehrawat became the League's most-expensive player of all-time as the Tamil Thalaivas picked him for a massive sum of INR 2.26 Crore.
Among the other top signings were former Haryana Steelers star Vikash Kandola, who was picked up by the Bengaluru Bulls for INR 1.70 crore as a replacement for Sehrawat. While Fazel Atrachali retained his title as the PKL's most-expensive foreign player as Puneri Paltan agreed to pay another massive sum of INR 1.38 crore to acquire the Iranian defender.
