Mumbai, November 29, 2023 — In a glittering ceremony on Wednesday, U Mumba brought together the power of sport and entertainment on one stage to celebrate and unveil the landmark Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 U Mumba Jersey in the presence of Bollywood star Vicky Kaushal and the squad members at the META India studios in Mumbai.

U Mumba is geared up for an exhilarating season ahead. Designed with careful consideration and attention to details, the new jersey serves as a powerful statement of the team’s commitment to excellence, unity, and capturing the enduring spirit and resilience of Mumbai that U Mumba team stands for. 

The new jersey was launched in the presence of Vicky Kaushal in and as Sam Bahadur along with team owner, Ronnie Screwvala, CEO Suhail Chandhok apart from the Season 10 core team members Surinder Singh, Mahender Singh, Rinku, Girish Ernak, Guman Singh and Pranay Rane.

“Interwoven with elements that encapsulate the heart and soul of Mumbai city, the jersey captures the energy, diversity, hustle and indomitable spirit of the melting pot of people that Mumbai represents. Each thread tells a story, echoing the pulse of a city that never sleeps, and the relentless pursuit of excellence that defines U Mumba,” said Suhail Chandhok, CEO of U Mumba.

One of the key striking features of the jersey is the representation of the ocean, an homage to the original inhabitants of Mumbai, the Koli community and to the element of water that forms the essence of Mumbai, a City of Seven Islands.

“The waves symbolise the ebb and flow of obstacles that our players may encounter throughout the Pro Kabaddi League season and it serves as a reminder to be fluid, like water, adaptable to change, agile, resilient and open to any challenges that lie ahead,” Suhail further added.

U Mumba Captain & Vice-Captains announced

The team also took the opportunity to announce the Captain and Vice-Captains for the upcoming season with Surinder Singh set to continue at the helm and Rinku Sharma and Mahender Singh as his deputies.

Paras Sharma, Director of Content and Community Partnerships, Meta, India, also commented, “We actively foster sports fandom on our platforms, continuously collaborating with teams and the ecosystem to broaden their audience. Collaborating with the U Mumba team enables us to connect creators and public figures, aiming to boost kabaddi’s popularity ahead of the Pro-Kabaddi League and offer creators opportunities to engage with athletes from varied sports.”

The team also announced local (Mumbai) icon player, Girish Ernak as the Spirit of Mumba Captain, who is specially assigned the task to nurture young talents in the side from various parts of the country and ensure the positive spirit of U Mumba is always intact through the ups and downs of the competitive season.

Follow U Mumba’s journey in the Pro Kabaddi League and witness the team wearing their hearts on their sleeves, quite literally, with the unveiling of this exceptional new jersey on our social media handles.

Hyderabad, 29th November 2023: The Pro Kabaddi League is all geared up to launch its tenth season on 2nd December 2023 and the fans cannot keep calm. Telugu Titans’ Pawan Sehrawat, who broke his own record for the highest bid at the PKL Auction earlier this year, spoke about his excitement ahead of the milestone season, “I am very excited to play in the tenth season. I have not played in the league for a while. My preparations are going well in the Telugu Titans camp and I am looking forward to the season.”

Reminiscing his own journey in the Pro Kabaddi League, one of the biggest kabaddi stars expressed about his first-ever PKL game in Season 3, “I played my first-ever match against Dabang Delhi K.C. in Season 3 and I remember that I scored a bonus point on my first raid.”

Following his debut in Season 3, Sehrawat has gone on to record the highest raid points in the sixth, seventh and eighth seasons and also clinch the Most Valuable Player Award after recording 271 raid points in Season 6. Speaking about the fantastic season, the Hi-Flyer said, “I had not played for a long time before the sixth season. But nevertheless, I experienced the best moment of my Pro Kabaddi League career in the that season when I scored 20 points in the first half against Tamil Thalaivas while playing for Bengaluru Bulls.”

When asked about the growth of the Pro Kabaddi League, the star raider said, “Starting the tenth season is quite a big achievement for Mashal Sports and Star Sports. This is a proud moment for me as well to see kabaddi grow so much. The highest bid in PKL Season 1 Auction was INR 12.8 lakh and the highest bid for Season 10 was INR 2.6 crore – which shows how much the league has grown.”

Pawan Sehrawat will be in action in the opening game of Season 10 when the Telugu Titans go up against Gujarat Giants in Ahmedabad on 2nd December 2023.

Mumbai, 24th November 2023: The kabaddi fever is in the air as the milestone PKL Season 10 is all set to begin in Ahmedabad on 2nd December 2023. The superstars are ready to enthral the kabaddi lovers in each of the franchise’s home cities this edition.

Ahead of the special season, former Indian cricketers Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar reminisced about their own experience of playing and watching the game of kabaddi in Mumbai. “I used to play kabaddi in my colony. It was a lot of fun to play the game because we used to play in the evening. Everyone from the colony used to come together to play. And a group of 50 people used to watch our games,” said Shastri.

Shastri also expressed about the fitness level required for the sport, “A good fitness level is very important for kabaddi. Core strength and lower body are very important.”

Meanwhile, Manjrekar spoke about the night kabaddi culture in Mumbai, “A very competitive night kabaddi used to take place and a lot of people used to go and watch the games in Mumbai. I also used to go and watch the games along with the huge crowd.”

Manjrekar added that he found facing fast bowlers easier than playing kabaddi, “This is a contact sport. I found it easier to wear a helmet and face fast bowling than playing kabaddi. One requires flexibility, strength and smartness for this sport.”

The league is thrilled to welcome the kabaddi fans from each of the franchise’s home cities back to the stadium this season. The Ahmedabad leg will be held from 2-7 December 2023. Thereafter, the league will move in the following order of venues – Bengaluru (8-13 December 2023), Pune (15-20 December 2023), Chennai (22-27 December 2023), Noida (29 December 2023 – 3 January 2024), Mumbai (5-10 January 2024), Jaipur (12-17 January 2024), Hyderabad (19-24 January 2024), Patna (26-31 January 2024), Delhi (2-7 February 2024), Kolkata (9-14 February 2024) and Panchkula (16-21 February).

New Delhi, 23rd November, 2023: One of India’s most loved sports, Kabaddi, will be back soon with the 10th season of the Pro Kabaddi League, which begins in the city of Ahmedabad. And ahead of the big day, Ahmedabad and Gujarat’s very own team, the Adani Sportsline-owned Gujarat Giants, have announced Fazel Atrachali as the captain for the side while Rohit Gulia is the vice-captain. The team is coached by the astute tactician and experienced coach Ram Mehar Singh.

The Gujarat Giants have been finalists twice, in 2017 and 2018, and will be keen to join an elite group of teams by bagging the prestigious PKL title. Co-incidentally, in the 2017 campaign, Fazel was part of the Giants squad that reached the final. The 31-year-old defender has been a two-time winner of the PKL and a three-time Asian Games medallist, and will look to use all his experience at the highest level to lead the charge for the Giants.

“In the PKL season 10, among all the players, Fazel is one of the most decorated players and he has won a lot medals in his career. I have worked with Fazel before, and he is great player, and in our mind, he was our clear choice for the captaincy for Adani’s Gujarat Giants,” said Ram Mehar Singh, Coach, Gujarat Giants.

With the likes of Rakesh and Parteek Dahiya showing plenty of promise, and the return of Fazel, the Gujarat Giants have a fair amount of talent in their ranks. Along with them, there are also the likes of Rohit and Sourav Gulia, Vikash Jaglan, Arkam Shaikh, GB More and the Iranian all-rounder Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh. With such great talent and experience at their disposal, the Gujarat Giants will aim for a solid start to the season.

Head coach Ram Mehar Singh said that the team, which had been based out of the New Delhi, had been doing everything possible to ensure they peak at the right time and are in form.

“Gujarat Giants is a very big team and it is my pleasure to be back in the team. I am delighted to be leading the team and, in the squad, we have a lot of youngsters. I know we all work well together and as a captain that makes my job easier. And I am happy about how things are shaping up,” said Fazel Atrachali.

The Gujarat Giants will begin their season with a game against Telegu Titans on 2nd December, which is the opening day of the tournament. All the games in Ahmedabad will be played at The TransStadia. The 10th season of the Pro Kabaddi League also marks a return to the caravan format after three years.

Kolkata, 22^nd November, 2023: The much-awaited 10^th season of the Pro Kabaddi League is around the corner, and former champions Bengal Warriors are keen to make it a sensational one. With that in mind, the Bengal Warriors have named the ace raider Maninder Singh as their captain for the upcoming season, which begins on 2^nd December, in Ahmedabad.

Maninder, who has been with the Bengal Warriors since 2017, had captained the team to their maiden Pro Kabaddi League title in 2019. Ahead of Season 10 of the PKL, Bengal Warriors reacquired Maninder via the Final Bid Match option at the Player Auction for INR 2.12 Crores, which made him the third highest player in the league.

The 33-year-old raider has been one of the most impressive players for the Bengal Warriors, who will be hoping that the PKL returning to the caravan will help boost their performances. Earlier, in Season 9, Maninder became the second most prolific raider in the history of the PKL, as he went past the 1000-point mark in the Warriors’ opening game against the Haryana Steelers.

“I couldn’t have been happier that Bengal Warriors have got me back in the set-up. I am honoured to be back with this team and being named as the captain as well. This is a big responsibility, one which I intend to fulfil with all my might. This is a special season and I cannot wait to be back on the mat and in front our fans. This year we have new owners and management in Capri Sports, and they have been very supportive from the start,” said Maninder Singh.

Maninder is one of the best raiders PKL has seen, and he is a delight to work with. He has been a key player for Bengal Warriors in the past, and he will surely play a critical role this year as well, both as a captain and as a raider as we aspire to lift the trophy for the 2nd time. The younger players can learn a lot from him and his experience will surely help the team during the course of the tournament,” said coach K. Baskaran.

The Bengal Warriors will open their campaign for the 10^th season of the PKL against the Bengaluru Bulls on 4^th December in Ahmedabad at The Arena by TransStadia. The PKL travels to Bengal in February with the team Gujarat Giants (9 February), Telugu Titans (10 February), U Mumba (12 February) and Puneri Paltan (14 February).

“Maninder Singh is one of the strongest Kabaddi players in the country, and we could not be happier about the fact that he will be the captain of the Bengal Warriors. His leadership qualities are unapparelled and we are confident that he will lead by example,” said Apurv Gupta, Senior Vice-President, Contact Sports.